Lower Decks interview: Rank. First Last, Ship
We’re here with another interview with a newer member of our community. The title of this column is “Lower Decks,” hearkening back to the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode titled “Lower Decks,” in which junior officers aboard the Enterprise-D speculate on the reasons for recent unusual actions taken by the command crew near the Cardassian border.
This month’s interview is with the writer behind Ensign Luxa Lorana playing a Female Caitian Science Officer assigned to the recently relaunched USS Ronin
Nilsen: Tell us a little about the writer behind the character — where in the world do you hail from? Anything you’d like to share!
I’m from the west of bonnie Scotland, in a small town not very far from Glasgow.
Why did you choose this specific character?
Originally I had chosen a Trill as my character, although whilst in the Academy Cruise I realised that the fleet had quite a few Trill players, and I then changed my mind to create the beginnings of Luxa.
Caitians had always captured my interest as they are so underdeveloped in Star Trek canon, despite being around since The Animated Series.
I thought it would be interesting and fun to play a felinoid character.
I was a little nervous as I know that some fringe species can be a little tedious for some but I soon discovered this community appears to love the weird, wonderful and colourful of Trek as much as I do!
You’ve just joined the USS Ronin which has just relaunched (at the time of writing) What was it about the Ronin that attracted you to this posting?
As an amateur writer, who’s trying to improve my craft, I was drawn to the excitement of being part of a new launch crew.
I saw the potential for my character’s growth and the journey that I could go on. I knew that it would challenge me as a player, a writer and Luxa as a character.
So far it’s lived up to expectations!
It was bittersweet as I adore the Artemis and her crew. It’s really special to be a part of that bunch and I’ll miss being a part of the Artemis crew more than I can put into words.
What was your introduction to Science Fiction in general and Star Trek specifically?
I have no memory of my introduction to Star Trek or science fiction, it’s always been there.
I was raised in a household that was always interested in the concepts of science fiction, so I’ve never not known Star Trek. The Original Series would have been playing on reruns but the first series I’d have consumed regularly would have been The Next Generation.
I wasn’t a Trek fan, in the sense that I wanted the magazines, posters etc until Deep Space Nine and Voyager. I still remember being very excited about the start of DS9, which I loved from the beginning.
Then Voyager came along and just blew my mind and from that moment on I was 100% a Trek fan.
What is your experience with roleplaying?
Very very minimal. I had joined forums many years ago but never really got beyond a few posts.
I was part of a DnD group for several years during the pandemic. Although I enjoyed that experience, I’m not a massive fantasy fan and felt my interest dip, so I left that group and now my only RPG is SB118.
What brought you to SB118?
It’s a very familiar story. I was looking for a Star Trek Adventures game to play with. After searching Google, SB118 popped up.
I was intrigued enough to look into it and I was about to dismiss it as I’d tried forum games before (incorrectly assuming that this would be the same), and I just happened to click on a wiki link and saw all of this rich and detailed content.
I then signed up for the training academy, and from that moment I loved the structure, it showed that there was a lot of care involved in crafting and maintaining a collaborative, inclusive community.
Where do you see your character five years from now?
Jeezo, that’s a tough question! I would love to see Luxa rise through the ranks and become Chief Science Officer of her own department, and perhaps enter command within five years. Although who knows where her story will actually go?
Final question, in the Denali Invitational race, my own character Lhadon Nilsen was just behind the Vela when you chose to activate your ships special ability by spraying whatever that was all over the field, do you have any idea how long that took to clean up?
Got to be in it to win it! I’m sure you’ll eventually get the Kryptilithium out of your engines in a few months.
Does it help to know that it backfired on us and affected our own engines?
Thanks for your time, Ensign Luxa Lorana
You can read more about Ensign Luxa Lorana on the wiki.
