The Gremlin – Elya Tali

The Gremlin – Elya Tali

In this edition of “The Gremlin”, we take the turbolift to Deck 8 of the USS Aurora. Her Chief Engineer, Elya Tali, is hard at working making sure the engines and ship’s systems perform at peak efficiency. Thankfully, Lieutenant had some time to answer some of our questions.

Elya was the first Laudean to join Starfleet, and left for the academy just before Duronis II decided to join the Romulan empire instead of the Federation, leaving her isolated from her home planet. Laudeans have a “fielding ability” that allows them to sense energy fields that pass through their body. For this reason, Elya excels at fixing practical engineering problems, which led her to become Chief Engineer aboard the USS Victory, and then transfer to the USS Aurora.

Nathan Baker: How long have you been Simming with UFOP: SB118?

Elya Tali: Almost a year.

NB: Do you remember how you found the group?

ET: I used to run a Star Trek PbEM several years ago that is now defunct, and enjoyed it a lot. I was away from home on an internship and had extra free-time, so I searched around online and found UFOP.

NB: Elya is a Laudean; what made you want to choose that as your character’s species?

ET: I liked that the Laudean story is recent and ongoing. Most of the drama between common Star Trek species is very well known and doesn’t leave a lot of flexibility. I also thought the 3-gender culture was interesting and would be a challenge.

NB: Does your species give you any advantages or disadvantages while writing?

ET: On the one hand it gives a lot of freedom to create the character as I want. On the other hand, I have to try and keep up with the Embassy on Duronis II’s plotline as well as my own ship’s in case it effects Elya.

NB: What made you want to have your character be an Engineer?

ET: I’m a nerd in real-life and the engineers have been some of my favorite characters in the Star Trek series.

NB: What’s the most fun aspect about being an Engineer?

ET: I like squeezing real science facts into posts and making up semi-plausible theories about otherwise outrageous events.

NB: What’s the most difficult part?

ET: It is easy as an engineer to waste too much time playing with the ship and not enough interacting with other characters. I have to force my character into situations where she interacts with the rest of the crew.

NB: What piece of advice would you give to any fresh faces just getting started with our group?

ET: I see most new people copy/pasting whole e-mails they are tagged in and then writing in their dialog. Your writing will improve a lot of you write the post from your perspective and just copy/paste other people’s dialog into your post as needed.

*And now, the 5 questions I will ask all of my interviewees*

NB: Favorite Star Trek TV Show?

ET: Deep Space 9

NB: Favorite Star Trek Movie?

ET: I liked the new one. Don’t judge me. 😉

NB: Kirk or Picard?

ET: Picard

NB: What is your Favorite Trek Technobabble?

ET: I like that power conduits in the original Star Trek shows are labeled “GNDN”, for “Goes nowhere, does nothing”.

NB: If you could visit any world from the Star Trek universe, which would it be and why?

ET: Gamma Trianguli VI. It’s supposed to be a paradise.

——

Thanks once again to Lieutenant Tali for answering our questions for “The Gremlin”. Make sure to keep up with the ongoing stories from the brave crew of the Aurora at thier Yahoo! Group HERE.

If you’re an Engineer (or former Engineer) and would like to have a spotlight interview, leave a message on the Forums by clicking here. Stay tuned for our next fascinating interview.

And, as always, happy simming!

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