Sycus

Sycus is a Starfleet officer currently serving as the Chief Science Officer aboard the U.S.S. Phoenix.

Upbringing
Sycus was born on Vulcan, the son of a judicial worker and an astrophysicist. His father, Stauvak, represented the most scientific side of the family, the side that Sycus himself would wind up pursuing.

Sycus spent almost all of his childhood following the same trail of his father. To Sycus the study of stellar mechanics and the development of the universe was the most promising and intriguing study available. It was a career that would grant Sycus a very wide range of possibilities, especially a stable, strong career in the Vulcan Expeditionary Group. Upon graduating from the Vulcan Science Academy, Sycus seemed to be set strongly on this path of life.

However, Sycus had a somewhat sudden realization. Alongside the VEG was Starfleet. Sycus would eventually decide upon Starfleet given its enriched history of scientific exploration and prowess over the centuries.

Sycus's graduation from the Vulcan Science Academy meant that his family did not have any major concerns with his change of heart towards the Vulcan Expeditionary Group, the same organization he'd idolized since he was a child. This does not mean that the decision was made lightly. Sycus faced intense internal conflict in the final days before he applied to Starfleet. It grew to the point where Sycus nearly withdrew his application, but he chose to continue the process following significant contemplation and discussion with his family. Ultimately, it was decided that Starfleet would provide the best experience for Sycus. The indecision has not simply disappeared over the years, though. It is still glued to the back of Sycus's mind, and he still occasionally wonders if his decision was the correct one. These thoughts have dwindled significantly over the years due to the increasing amount of devotion Sycus must dedicate to his job.

Starfleet Academy
Just as every other Starfleet officer, Sycus was subjected to the rigorous preparatory programs on the Earth Starfleet Academy. The impact of these programs were somewhat lessened due to his education at the Vulcan Science Academy, but the greatest challenge in his early days of Starfleet would prove to be social rather than academic. Initially, Sycus found it somewhat difficult to cooperate with Humans and the far more intimate emotional relationships between individuals when compared to Vulcans. It was the possibly the greatest challenge of Sycus's career simply to learn how to get along with his class. Over the course of the term, Sycus learned to cope with these feelings and, though very closely guarded as a secret, grew to respect his classmates for their intense devotion to their studies as he did, even if they were more liberal in their day-to-day rituals. This would lead him to form his first two friendships in the second year of the academy.

Just like his time on Vulcan, Sycus spent the majority of his academy days studying astrophysics. He elected to take the Astrotheory, Astrophysics, and Stellar Cartography courses Starfleet Academy offered. These courses were just as difficult as he presumed they would be. His education at the Vulcan Science Academy did not necessarily make these courses easier, but Sycus did retain a much more firm grasp on the material than he otherwise would have. Excepting Velocity, Sycus avoided all other extracurricular activities. When he was questioned on why he exclusively participated in Velocity, he was quoted saying, "It is an activity which tones my reflexes, situational awareness, and my ability to focus, all of which I will need upon graduation." Most simply chalked it up to his enjoying of the sport. It was also at Starfleet Academy where Sycus first developed a taste for certain human foods. One of the earliest foods that was easily agreeable with his digestive system was tomato soup, leading it to replace gespar fruit as his most frequent meal. This habit has persisted through the duration of his career.

Sycus made only two close friends while at the academy, at least, only two which he described as friends. They were Samantha Haddock and William Harna, both humans, but all three formed a very close relationship throughout their time in the academy. Sycus would train extensively in Velocity with both of them and study frequently with Haddock. Despite Haddock's less-than-outward personality, and Harna's sometimes rowdy behavior, the three complemented each other quite well. Additionally, all three shared at least some mutual interest in astrophysics. The two humans of the group occasionally referred to themselves as "The Big Three," though Sycus never had this said to him directly nor used it himself. Upon graduating, both Harna and Haddock would pursue careers as security officers, leaving Sycus the sole member of his group to maintain a presence in the scientific department. Sycus attempted to maintain contact with them following graduation, but he soon found his work to be far too engulfing to keep up an active lime of communication.

U.S.S. Hyperborea
In 2464, following his graduation from Starfleet Academy, Sycus was assigned to the U.S.S. Hyperborea. The assignment was to support a small fleet of vessels in charting a then-unexplored nebula. The five-year mission would provide Sycus with plenty of work to do and lots of charts to examine, but the high point of the expedition was the charting of the nebula itself. The creation of the nebula was strange, given that it was found to be a double-planetary nebula. Sycus himself proposed a plausible origin of the nebula. Because of the nature of nebula formation, Sycus hypothesized that the younger of the two stars must have been trapped by the older star's gravity as a separate, rogue star. It became one of the only plausible explanations for the development of a double-planetary nebula, and his theory was one of the ones used to disprove or to prove the creation of other double-planetary nebulae. Sycus spent the remainder of the mission keeping himself busy by observing and studying regular sensor logs, calculations, and stellar cartographic information.

U.S.S. Sagittarius
The Hyperborea's five-year expedition came to an end, and Sycus was quick to request assignment to another vessel. He would be put on board the Sagittarius to supervise some of the inexperienced fresh science crew on board. While he viewed it as a simple task at first, it very rapidly became a valuable retrospective for Sycus. He saw a pattern in the rookie officers which he never even recognized that he'd possessed; the observation of new officers from the outside would cause him to reflect on his own behavior, especially at the time. Overall, it spurred him to become more stern as an individual, especially towards himself. Even Sycus had been somewhat impulsive and eager by his own standards, something which changed nearly overnight upon seeing this behavior in the other young officers.

Towards the end of the six-year research cruise, Sycus was placed in charge of the majority of the rookie officers in manually calculating the trajectory and specifications of the next star on the route based only on sensor readings. Everything was in order until a misplaced decimal point coupled with an error in subtraction placed the ship on-route to intersect with the star. Sycus quickly ran through the calculations once more. He quickly corrected the equation, and delivered the proper coordinates to the helm to prevent the ship from being decimated upon its arrival.

U.S.S. Johannsson
Sycus spent three years in total aboard the Johannsson. Due to his previous record of work, he was assigned as its assistant chief science officer. The shorter nature of the Johannsson's mission meant that Sycus had time to re-initiate contact with his old friends Samantha Haddock and William Harna. It was a brief reconnection, as Sycus would once again shift his focus to his work, but it was enough to spur him into a somewhat more sociable mood for a time, at least for a Vulcan.

The most notable experience of his time aboard Johannsson, and his career up to that point, was the study of a dying star. A massive red supergiant had begun fusing silicon into iron. It provided ample opportunity to study the final moments of a star, as the process of silicon fusion typically took only a day. Sycus spent all of the time he could observing the data retrieved pertaining to the star, and when the time came for Johannsson to depart for safety, he had to be pried away from the observation deck. Those who were near him said he could not be removed from the nearest window as Johannsson warped away from the dying star.