T'Lyn

T'Lyn was a Vulcan female who lived during the 24th century. She served in the Vulcan High Command aboard the Vulcan cruiser until 2381, when she was transferred to Starfleet and assigned to the .
Her transfer was a result of conflict with her compatriots by her defiant (by Vulcan standards) willingness to allow her reasoning to be influenced by factors in addition to logic, such as intuition. Although she felt that the transfer was punitive, she came to feel more welcome and accepted on the Cerritos, resulting in her ultimately deciding to stay of her own free will.
== Early life ==
T'Lyn was born in 2319. () Her home was in the Viltan Flats. ()
== Vulcan career ==
=== Sh'vhal ===
By 2381, T'Lyn served on the Sh'vhal, where her crewmates had come to see her as "unstable" due to her tendency to act on factors other than logic, such as instinct and "gut feelings". T'Lyn also happened to present herself differently in how she wore her uniform, choosing to forego wearing the sash belt that kept the outer robe enclosed.
T'Lyn enhanced the Sh'vhals long-range sensors by implementing personal algorithms, even though her assignment has been to monitor redundant tertiary impulse systems. When the enhanced sensors detected metreon particles in system 7743.8, she reported the anomaly and the ship changed course to investigate. However, T'Lyn was ordered by Captain Sokel to spend two days in meditation due to her behavior.
The Sh'vhal not only discovered that the metreon emissions had been caused by a Varuvian bomb detonated by Pakleds, but came across the Pakled Clumpship and the Klingon Bird of Prey Che'Ta' attacking the USS Cerritos. The Sh'vhal intervened and took fire from the Pakleds and Klingons, damaging its shields. T'Lyn offered Sokel a regenerative shield amplifier she had developed as a personal project. Though the protocol was untested, he implemented it, and shields rose to 120%. The Che'ta broke off its attack, and the Sh'vhal helped the Cerritos drive off the Pakleds.
In private, Sokel noted that T'Lyn's actions had likely saved the ship, but deemed her behavior unacceptable under his command. However, citing her lack of emotional control as a liability, he informed her that instead of having her returned to as she expected, he had recommended that she be transferred to a Starfleet vessel, believing her instincts made her possibly a better fit to serve with Humans. Over her objection that she saw this as an unusually harsh punishment, he stated that his decision was final. ()
== Starfleet career ==
=== USS Cerritos ===
In the year of her transfer to Starfleet, T'Lyn was assigned to the , to be trained alongside Ensign D'Vana Tendi in the senior science officer training program and given the provisional rank of ensign. Although T'Lyn, having to seek out Tendi at the ship's bar as that's where most of the crew had gathered for a celebration, preferred a private discussion to begin her orientation, Tendi welcomed her with an exuberance the Vulcan did not expect and insisted on introducing the Vulcan to her friends to the point of literally dragging her by the hand to do so. ()
At the start of her service on the Cerritos, T'Lyn aided Tendi in transporting several containers off the . However, one of the containers accidentally lost a petal from a pink orchid that fell into Voyagers transporter, resulting in Doctor T'Ana and Chief Andy Billups to be Tuvixed into T'Illups. Later on, when T'Illups learned Tuvix's fate and attempted to Tuvix the whole crew, T'Lyn managed to hijack the Cerritoss transporter, accidentally combined T'Illups, Dr. Captain Frigleeman, Shabarnes, Swhale Swhalens, Ensign Jennifer Sh'reyan and Nurse Westlake into one big "Tuvix-ee meatball." Initially, T'Lyn assumed that the Doctor's original method of separating Tuvix was incapable of doing the same for the merged hybrids until Tendi used T'Illups' modified tricorder to isolate each individual's DNA and personalities, enabling them to restore their crewmates to their original bodies. T'Lyn was later promoted to lieutenant junior grade for her actions alongside Tendi, Beckett Mariner and Brad Boimler. ()
T'Lyn was later part of a mission to Corazonia to retrofit the power relays. However, the task was stymied by Boimler's fear of putting his ensigns in danger, even after Captain Freeman accidentally triggered a violent re-genesis of the ring. Ultimately, T'Lyn managed to convince Boimler to let the ensigns help, enabling them to save the ring. ()
When the Cerritos was transporting three Betazoid diplomats to Risa, T'Lyn intended to transmit a message to Sokel about her experiences onboard the Cerritos and her thoughts on them, particularly emphasizing when they were trying to her Vulcan sensibilities, in an apparent effort to convince him to allow her to transfer back. Initially, she was unable to send her message during a communications blackout. During this time, she involuntarily began telepathically projecting her pent up emotions to the rest of the crew, causing them to act overly emotional. Unaware of what she was doing, T'Lyn suggested to Captain Freeman that their Betazoid guests were suffering from Zanthi fever. Despite the Betazoids passing a medical scan, Freeman irrationally ordered them confined to quarters, which led to the Betazoids revealing themselves as agents of Betazed Intelligence who then hijacked the ship, take Freeman hostage and left T'Lyn and Mariner bound. While they were left alone, Dr. T'Ana's tricorder identified T'Lyn as the cause of the psychic disturbance, which she suggested was caused by Bendii Syndrome. In trying to resolve the crisis, T'Lyn accidentally provoked a mob by denying that she's friends with Tendi, getting herself and Mariner locked in a closet. After regulating Mariner's emotions, T'Lyn opened up about the circumstances that led to her transfer to the Cerritos and concluded that Sokel was correct about her not being truly Vulcan. Mariner rebuked Captain Sokel's action for banishing her after saving the Sh'vhal and argued that she's no different from Sarek, who also suffered Bendii Syndrome. In opening up, T'Lyn's area of effect immediately dissipated, restoring the crew to normal. After the Cerritos narrowly avoided violating the Romulan Neutral Zone, the BIA agents offered to give T'Lyn their future support, having previous experience in telepathic projection. Subsequently, with communications restored, T'Lyn declined to send her message and decided to stay to continue studying Mariner's chaotic ways. ()
On Persioff IX, Brad Boimler, Beckett Mariner and T'Lyn were finished installing a power relay for a research station that was researching Tremble lizards when one of the lizards bit a wire, causing part of the fence to go down, sending one of the scientists into a panic as the creatures charged toward the station. Boimler and T'Lyn went to put on their antivenom suits, but Mariner snatched the tool Boimler was using and ran out despite Boimler begging her to put on a suit. As Mariner raced out, fighting off the creatures with a metal tray, the scientist remarked that she must love outpost scientists. When Boimler told him that she thinks they're "weirdos," he questioned why she was risking her life for them, to which T'Lyn remarked that "it is "illogical." Mariner successfully fixed the fence, narrowly escaping the lizards' venom.
Later, on the Cerritos, Boimler and T'Lyn met in the hallways and mused about the latest away mission that's devolved into Mariner-based violence. T'Lyn noted that her cavalier behavior has gotten more dangerous since the mission to Ferenginar. Upon reaching the briefing room, D'Vana Tendi and Sam Rutherford already there, they noted how weird it was for them to be called to the room together and without Mariner. At that point, Captain Carol Freeman arrives with Jack Ransom, Shaxs, and T'Ana, and demands of the room to know what is wrong with Mariner before discussing plans to handle the mysterious ship. It was decided that while the rest of the crew handle the mission, T'Lyn, Boimler and Tendi would head to a an old space buoy in the Sherbal system that stopped transmitting data in a bid to distract Mariner from her self-destructive tendency. 
Unbeknownst to her (or the away team until it's too late), Sherbal V was where Nick Locarno was having his mutineers leave their commanding officers, so it resulted in the away team, T'Lyn included, ending up stranded on a world with several mutually hostile species. As their situation was only worsening Mariner's reckless tendencies, T'Lyn ultimately confessed their true assignment, but Mariner refused to open up about what's wrong with her. ()
In 2382, she applied for the position of senior science officer on the Cerritos, competing with Tendi for the position. Due to a transporter mishap and time dilation, Tendi, T'Lyn and Beckett Mariner spent a year of relative time marooned on Dilmer III where they recovered the head of a Lieutenant Commander Data from an alternate reality where everything was slightly more purple. During her time on the planet, T'Lyn opened a thriving produce and hair care product business, taking care not to violate the Prime Directive and using just her scientific knowledge and local resources to better the lives of the Dilmerians. After returning to the ship, at the suggestion of Data, Tendi and T'Lyn were jointly promoted to senior science officer. ()
== Personal Interests ==
T'Lyn is a fan of Krog on the Rocks stating that he is her favorite musician and that he is a master of the vibe tubes. After having escaped the glumpus the two spoke briefly and she later accepted an autograph Tendi gifted her, though only so she could study the signature. ()
== Appendices ==
=== Appearances ===
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** (Season 3)
** (Season 4)
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** (Season 5)
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=== Background information ===
T'Lyn was voiced by Gabrielle Ruiz.
Her name was derived from that of Kathryn Lyn, who wrote the episode in which the character first appeared. Lyn cosplayed at conventions for several years as a Vulcan named T'Lyn. 
According to Mike McMahan, T'Lyn was the Vulcan version of Beckett Mariner. (LD Season 2 DVD, Lower Decktionary: Season 2)
=== External links ===
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Category:Vulcans
Category:Vulcan High Command personnel
Category:Starfleet sciences personnel
Category:USS Cerritos personnel
de:T'Lyn