We've done the best, let's do the rest. Now, that we've run out of the so-called bridge crew personnel, it's time for all those Enterprise irregulars (Part 1). Hey, they've got "-oids" too. (An -oid is a somehow skewed version of the characters we know... these articles spotlight them in order to guess at the future AUs and Personnas to come.) So here they are: Tasha, Kate, Reg and Alyssa.
So, we'll start with the Enterprise's original security chief as Siskoid productions presents: YAROIDS
We've already got:
1-Premiere Yar: not an -oid obviously.
2-Alt-Tasha Yar: the AU card we got a while back.
The only others I can think of:
3-Sexy Yar: From "The Naked Now". This Tasha wore some sort of kimono, sported a slick s-curl on her forehead, and had a romantic liaison with the good commander Data. As viable Personnel, she doesn't exactly make me jump for joy (if I were an android on the other hand...) I could see her invalidate a bunch of Dilemmas though: Male's Love Interest ("hey, I'm here for you big boy"), Hunter Gangs (seemed to have forgotten all about her as-yet-unwritten past) and the like.
4-Turkana IV Tasha: From that picture on the Hunter Gangs card ("Where No One Has Gone Before"). This is a younger non-Starfleet Tasha that makes her Non-Aligned. We might also attribute her Hunter Gangs nullification and bonuses for her sister Ishara.
And no, I'm afraid Sela doesn't count.
Another one-season bridge crew member:
PULASKOIDS
Only one up to now (I don't reallt expect any others):
1-Katherine Pulaski: not an -oid (annoying is another thing altogether).
Aside from that, how about:
2-Arthur Conan Doyle's Pulaski: A holo-personna for the doctor from "Elementary, Dear Data". She would make a great foil for Moriarty who's sure to be a powerful character or game effect. Is he about the Nemesis your Sherlock Holmes out of the game? Send Pulaski for tea and scrumpets and it'll be fine.
BARCLOIDS
Not to be confused with bar clams, two non-oids already exist:
1-Premiere Barclay: The original mission specialist.
2-FC Barclay: A better version but still not an -oid.
For the few times he's appeared, Barclay's got himself a number of good possibilities:
3-Spider-Reg: From "Genesis" when Barclay catches his special patented protomorphosis disease. This guy certainly fits in my proposed all-ANIMAL bridge crew. As a Spider-man, he might make even the hardiest Klingon think twice before attacking him. Or Decipher could go conceptual and have Spider-Reg "stick" to other cards no matter what (bringing spaceline Events or prisoners wherever he goes, for example).
4-Fantasy Barclay: In his very first appearance ("Hollow Pursuits"), Barclay showed us his valorous musketeer holo-personna. Unlike all the "fops" that have peppered these here articles, he actually does something good. Unfortunately, you can't go far in Trek on swordfightng alone...
5-Holoduty Barclay: Barclay also appears as a true blue hologram in a certain Voyager episode. Two Barcloids can actually be derived from it: the real Barclay, from that time when he was working on Mars actually designing the Doctor's software AND the holo-version of this Barclay. Take your pick. Whatever happens, he's gotta have holo-technology derived abilities. (Will holography ever become a skill, perhaps on par with cybernetics?) Downloading holographics seems reasonable enough, but I'd like to see something unreasonable.
6-Barclay at the Nth degree: From "The Nth Degree", this card would feature a cool pic of Reg sitting in his monstro-chair, lasers hitting his head. A very specific strategy-oriented possibility just occured to me: When Nth Reg is on a ship hit with Cytherians, the ship can do other things (maybe a number of turns delay), Reg has a bunch of skills at x10 (or ALL the skills x1) + Cunning off the scale. "Cytherians worth no points when you reach en of spaceline" might make it more balanced. This might also be better as an Event played on any character (with a better effect for any Barclay).
7-By popular demand (i.e. jSarek), Broccoli: Broccoli? As far as I'm concerned, that's just Premiere set Reg... But how about this being an event that takes away all the confidence from a crewmember (who gets conceptually demeaned by fellow officers)? Minuses, skill losses, perhaps even "attracts Transporter Phobia to him or herself"... Hey, I'm trying here!
OGAWOIDS
Alyssa's gotten some exposure already as well:
1-Premiere Alyssa: not an -oid.
2-FC Alyssa: One of the best revamps in FC, and still not an -oid.
3-Doctor Ogawa: From "Parallels". She replaced Dr. Crusher as CMO of the Enterprise in some universes. A clear chance to give her double MEDICAL and another cool download. If Geordi ever dies on her shift of course, it's -5 points fer sure.
4-Nurse Ogawa (Barash): In Barash's illusion, poor Alyssa never got the chance to upgrade her degree to M.D. If my "Naked Truth"-like assumptions about the Barash icon come true, she'd have to be somehow weaker than the other Alyssas. Not easy given the relative weakness of the Premiere version (though she's still useful). Have to think about that one some more.
5-De-evolved Alyssa: In "Genesis", Ogawa turns into an apelike humanoid. ANIMAL crew of the stars! Greater Strength, climbing out of Dilemmas' way, Downloading banana peels for unwary Cardassians to slip on... The ideas keep flowing don't they?
6-"All Good Things..." Alyssa: A mention about Ogawa's on-again, off-again pregnancy in that episode. Not a Personnel, but rather some Interrupt effect: While Anti-Time Anomaly is on the table, a Personnel could be taken out of play IF that personnel is the son or daughter of another Personnel (targets all the Sons of Mogh, Ba'el, all the Durases, Deanna, Wesley, etc.). Well?
That's it for Part 1. Next time, in, oddly enough, Part 2, we'll be looking at Guinan, Alexander and Ensign Ro. In the meantime, if you've got anybody to add to the four victims in THIS document, don't be afraid to say so. As always, I like to fix things up before it gets permanently posted.
Siskoid... once more unto the breach, dear friends.
