Tigerstripe

Chakat Tigerstripe (often called "Tiger" by hir friends and family) is an average-sized chakat, with a distinctive tiger-like fur pattern, whence shi got hir name. [more info]
Shi is rather shy and somewhat introverted, but a brilliant architect and mechanical designer.  Shi is famous for being the primary designer of the Legacy class advanced cruiser — the newest and most advanced type of vessel in the Stellar Federation, built to support the Federation's needs far into the foreseeable future.
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==Character Details==
Tigerstripe is 160 centimeters tall, and masses 180 kilograms.  Hir pelt pattern is Bengal tiger-like, with zig-zagging black stripes and honey-orange tones; belly, gloves and socks are white.  Hir head hair is black with natural honey-orange streaks.  Hir eyes are bright feline green.  Hir bust size is 74E (EU system) or 29DD (American/UK system).
===Fur pattern===
Tigerstripe's fur pattern is an atavistic throwback, making hir strongly resemble hir distant ancestor: the first chakat, Zigzag.  Shi has the same tiger-like features, and hir head hair is naturally streaked black and honey-orange.
Hir fur pattern is not identical, but it's close enough that most people who are familiar with early chakat history do a double-take, and some mistake hir for the famous chakat reincarnated.  The differences are mainly in the placement of a few stripes, and hir eyes are a brighter shade of green.
===Talents===
In terms of Talents, Tigerstripe is an unremarkable chakat:
*E4.1 empath: able to sense emotions of others in a wide radius; able to project an emotion or sensation into others (easier through touch); able to form permanent bonds with unlimited range. 
*K1.8 telekinetic: able to move lightweight objects (less than half a kilogram); objects must be within a few dozen meters, and should be within direct line-of-sight for easiest manipulation.  Skills include: operating buttons and switches, retrieving small tools and parts, and operating a small PADD hands-free.  Shi can "pinch" others to try and make them drop things, but shi can't pull objects from someone's grasp (unless it's a very light grip).  Hir telekinesis is so weak, shi does not rely on it for daily life, and consequentially is comfortable enough with holodecks.
Shi has received no formal training in either Talent, but shi uses them frequently enough that shi could probably gain little from training.
===Personality===
Tigerstripe has a friendly but initially shy personality, with a vein of concealed aggressiveness that can rival that of a chakamil (though shi has no chakamil blood).  Hir speech frequently comes off as condescending, but this is entirely unintentional and not at all what shi wishes.
Once shi's comfortable enough with new people to talk to them, the hard part is getting hir to stop, and shi will often dump mountains of information if someone asks a simple question about a subject shi knows well.
Shi will play the matchmaker role if given the opportunity... but shi has great difficulty attracting anyone to hirself.  Shi is a chronically lonesome chakat, who dreams of finding true love and building the big chakat family shi never had, and especially becoming a mother...
...but hir shy side constantly gets the better of hir, and drives hir into self-isolation and misery... which is where hir creative talent developed and flourished, to compensate for the lack of external stimulation.
Tigerstripe prefers to communicate in writing, instead of speaking... and avoids media attention and large crowds like the plague.  Shi has a large vocabulary, and can be quite verbose when shi has something to say.  Hir ability to articulate hir own feelings is rather stunted though.
How shi behaves depends on hir present situation:
*If shi is surrounded by people shi trusts, and is in a comfortable and familiar setting, shi is open, frisky, and playful.  Shi's not a clown or the life of a party, but shi'll dance a little, and shi can get quite shameless and sensual if things swing in that direction.  This behavior embarrasses hir a bit, but not enough to make hir change, so shi just blushes and grins.
*If there are people in the group that shi doesn't know or trust yet, and/or shi finds hirself in a place or situation that shi's unfamiliar with, shi gets quite nervous, and adopts a much quieter and more cautious and reserved approach.  Hir shyness comes out in full force, and shi gets tense and hyper-alert.  Shi will seek out people shi trusts for their support... and if nobody is available to lean on, shi'll rely on hir gut instincts to get hir through.
*If shi finds hirself alone in an uncomfortably unfamiliar situation, shi may simply try to outright flee to a safer place, rather than dealing with hir discomfort and fears.  If given the choice, shi will favor escape, rather than facing danger.  As such, shi's not much of a fighter, beyond words and having a little of a temper.
*If stressed and frustrated, shi gets short with others, snapping and getting more deliberately condescending and sarcastic, or even just outright rude.  Depending on what happens as a result, and how angry shi gets, or how betrayed shi feels, shi may harbor a grudge, and may never apologize.
*If pushed too hard, the bottled-up reservoir of anger and frustration can explode, and shi'll vent at anyone and anything that comes to mind.
*Hir reaction to large adrenaline doses makes hir far more willing to resort to force, if it serves hir needs.  If forced into a fight, shi retains a cool head and excellent improvisational problem-solving skills, and can be a very dangerous combatant who's not afraid to fight dirty and unfair.
Tiger can multitask, to a limit.  Beyond that limit, and shi gets increasingly irritable and frustrated... but shi bottles this up, and when it explodes shi lashes out at anyone or anything unfortunate enough to be the straw that broke hir back.  This has earned hir a bit of a reputation for having a temper, which isn't really true; shi simply has trouble expressing hir feelings, so shi hides them.
Tiger has a gift for thinking outside the box, and coming up with novel viewpoints and solutions that others missed.  Shi has applied this talent very effectively toward hir career, designing novel starships.
===Clothing Preferences===
Tigerstripe is not prudish at all, and rarely wears anything except a utility belt... unless shi wants more pockets, or protocol forces hir to wear a top.  Shi does have a few snug tops, for formal occasions, or when a situation demands clothing... but shi tries to avoid having to wear anything to begin with.  Shi simply doesn't like the way most clothing feels, and prefers bare fur.
==Family==
Unusual for a chakat, Tiger has spent much of hir adult life in a sort of self-isolation, beginning after the loss of hir parents when shi was 13.  During this difficult time in hir life, shi had few friends, and often had to deal with hir body's developing physical needs all alone.
Shi has no mate, no children, and no surviving relatives.  Shi was an only child.
Tiger dreams of gaining a mate or two (or three), and becoming a mother.  Hir poor social skills, lack of friends, and difficulty expressing hir feelings unfortunately make it very difficult to get to know others well, and shi has a long history of short relationships and sour breakups and betrayals.  This has made hir jaded against the prospect of ever finding love.
Adding to the difficulty is hir inherent pickiness in the subject of sexual attraction.  The sort of mate Tiger wants most is a taur, preferably a chakat.  Shi likes foxtaurs and skunktaurs too, and a narrow selection of feline and canine morphs and aliens... but shi perceives many herbivore-based morphs to be repulsively ugly.  Shi's not proud of those feelings, and tries hard to conceal hir discrimination and be a better person... but it's a persistent problem that shi just can't fully suppress.
==History==
Tigerstripe was an only child.  Hir parents tried to give hir a sibling when shi was 5 years old, but hir sire miscarried, and the incident shocked hir parents into avoiding any more children.  It was always only the three of them...
===Loss of hir family===
In 2304, shortly after hir 13th birthday, hir parents celebrated their 15th anniversary with a pleasure cruise to Cait.  Since Tiger could not leave school, shi had to miss the trip — a chance that saved hir life...
The liner hir parents were traveling on (the Evening Star) vanished about halfway from Earth to Cait.  No distress signal was ever received.  A thorough search of the spacelane found scattered wreckage that matched the liner's engine section, but the quantity of debris only accounted for about half the ship, and the remainder was never found, nor were any bodies found.  Marks on the debris indicated possible weapons fire, possibly related to pirate activity, but the investigation proved inconclusive and fruitless.  The case remains unsolved.
Tiger was devastated by the news, and struggled with persistent depression for the next two years, which shi spent in a foxtaur foster home.
===A talent for design===
With the support of hir foster parents, Tiger put hir childhood love of architecture to good use, and built a small business.  After proving shi was economically independent, shi was emancipated by court order when shi was 15.
Shi developed a unique style by blending modern structural elements with the foxtaur nature-themed aesthetics, which proved quite popular to hir clients.  Shi became a millionaire at the age of 19, and commissioned a memorial for the lost passengers and crew of the Evening Star, which helped hir feel a little better.
When shi was 35 (in 2326), shi sold off hir company and moved to Chakona, hoping to settle down and build a family.  Those dreams persistently failed to materialize, and shi eventually grew bored and frustrated with the inactivity... so shi returned to design work, and decided to challenge hirself with a new direction: starships.  Shi opened a small design studio in Amistad, and named it Velocity Design.
Shi spent the next seven years designing refits for Star Corps vessels that were being retired and entering the civilian merchant business.
===The changing world===
On 4 November 2333, Tiger watched the Battle of Chakona helplessly from hir home in Amistad, quietly grateful that shi was not caught at hir secondary offices on Chakona Gateway Station.
Shi opened hir home to as many chakat evacuees as shi could fit.  The experience of being close to others re-awakened hir burning desires for a family.  Hir efforts to forge intimate relationships with a few of hir house guests started out okay, and shi got a Companion out of it... but then things backfired horribly, and shi was all alone once again.  Shi tore apart hir bedroom in rage and frustration, and had a small mental breakdown.
Shi recovered, and evolved a more somber and jaded attitude, which gave hir the strength to resolve to help ensure the disaster above hir adopted homeworld would never happen again.  News from Earth of the rising unrest and racism made hir fear the possibility of war with Earth — being a history buff, shi could see the similarity between what was happening on Earth and what happened before the Gene Wars, and shi feared history might repeat itself.  Shi hardened hir resolve to provide the tools to keep Chakona safe, be the threat humans or aliens.
Shi aggressively pursued all the information about the Stariionae, and eventually gained full security clearance.  Shi expanded hir design firm and pushed the team to develop radical new designs, and to then beat their own designs with better ones.  The company policy was to always stay two or more steps ahead of their competition, and they aggressively recruited the best and youngest minds they could find, and challenged them to do the impossible.
Beginning with new shuttles and fighters, Velocity Design worked its way up to design complete starships, and soon became famous throughout the Star Corps as the best design studio on Chakona.  That attention quickly caught the full attention of Star Fleet Command, and then the really big contracts landed on Tiger's desk.
After shi completed advanced refit plans that would harden the Balmoral class frigates against Stariionae tactics, Star Fleet was impressed enough to approach Tigerstripe about the possibility of building an entirely new class of heavy cruiser, to bolster the fleet's heavy-hitting power.  Tiger surprised the Admirals by pulling out hir Ace: a design shi had been working on, just in case such an opportunity presented itself.  Hir vessel was much more than the Admirals ever hoped for, and they could hardly restrain their enthusiasm.  Shi got hir contract, and the designs for the new Legacy class advanced cruiser were refined, completed, and approved within three years.  Construction on the class prototype began in 2338.
===Voyage of a lifetime===
When the F.S.S. Legacy was launched in 2341, Tigerstripe accompanied the vessel shi designed as it began its trials, intending to use the field tests to refine the design for the next vessel in the series.  Shi was thus present when the Legacy responded to that fateful LNAW freighter's distress signal, and both vessels vanished...
 The story continues in Voyage of Discovery...
==See also==
*Voyage of Discovery
*List of Chakats
==Non-Fiction Information==
The above information is all a work of fiction.  This character's creator can be found on this wiki, HERE.
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