Solida T'yra - Character Information
Relational Background
One aspect of playing Sanek that I had found intriquing was how a largely emotional crew would react and deal with a Vulcan captain. Unlike Spock, who was half human and continually struggled with the emotional side of his being because of his half-bred heritage, Sanek is a full blooded Vulcan with all the genetic traits against emotion that Vulcans have embraced throughout thousands of years. Additionally, Sanek's mother had undergone the Kholinar, further cementing the idea that Sanek would be, at least outwardly, completely emotionless.
As a result, it was established early on that Sanek would have an interesting relationship with his crew, which bordered on comedy after a fashion. Since the entire Science department of the vessel were Vulcans (Commander Vaareler and Lieutenant Tufap), the rest of the crew found it amusing to attempt to continually shock their Vulcan shipmates and captain into showing any emotion at all - which, of course, fails every time. The stoic manner in which the Vulcans communicate is also a topic of humor, frequently imitated amongst themselves.
Solida Appears on the Scene
Sanek's fourth Bridge Officer addition in Star Trek Online was a Betazoid female named Solida T'yra. When I saw the race and went through the initial costume design for her, there suddenly came the idea that a more direct manner in which to explore the relationship between Sanek and his crew was for him to have a situation where one of them was emotionally involved with him. Solida was the perfect solution - she was, in game, a Science Officer, and she was Betazoid. As a Science Officer it made perfect sense to create her skill set to be medically inclined, so she became Sanek's Chief Medical Officer.
But it was her race that was really the kicker. As a Betazoid, she would be able to feel the slight emotional twinges that all Vulcans have from time to time, and that in and of itself created the entire character, and situation, of Solida and her relationship with Sanek.
Solida's History with Sanek
After the idea was born, life was breathed into the idea by crafting a biography for Solida herself. She had little contact at all with Vulcans until she met Sanek just prior to his first Cadet Cruise. For a Vulcan, Sanek is fairly handsome, so Solida was infatuated with him from the start. What made her even more interested was the small bits of emotion that she could just barely catch in stressful situations. This made Sanek an enigma to her, and began a path that eventually led to her falling in love with him. Being the outgoing individual she is, she pursued Sanek relentlessly, making it known to him with innuendo and eventually bluntness how she felt. Their continued proximity to one another due to being aboard ship made it impossible for Sanek to distance himself from her, and she used it to her full advantage.
Sanek, for his part, secretly had always believed that to deny emotions on a total level was to deny being Vulcan. This was an idea that was begun by something his father told him when he was very young. However, he pursued typical Vulcan ideology and philosophy to his work and drive, never having been exposed to any situation that was uniquely emotional on a deep romantic level. His initial respect of Solida came from her work, and her expertise as a doctor. That respect, coupled with her continued advances, eventually made him realize, if even at a subconscious level, that he felt something for her in return.
This created a quandry internally with Sanek that mirrored the relationship he had with his crew, just on a deeper, more personal level.
The Relationship Begins
Initially I had decided to let the situation remain static throughout Sanek's career while playing STO. It was a discussion about the situation with another player that eventually made me decide that it would be interesting to actually explore the relationship between them. Because of Sanek's beliefs wherein Vulcan emotions were concerned, this wasn't an implausible situation.
So, after the Delta Volanis incident, when the ship was almost destroyed, Sanek made the decision to pursue the situation with Solida. In some ways, it was to explore his own emotions, and to carefully allow them to surface - in private of course - when they were together. However, Sanek is and will always be Vulcan, so even those small bits of emotional display to Solida alone were big steps. Since his experience with emotion was limited at best, his experiences with them were often difficult and somewhat awkward.
The Crew's Reaction
The majority of the crew, and particularly the bridge crew, of Sanek's ship has been well aware of the situation between Solida and Sanek for years. The stoic persistence with which she has pursued him has been something of an amusing anecdote throughout their cruises, particularly with how Solida's blatant disregard for protocol in some situations, as well as her deliberate advances in public situations, causes Sanek to get somewhat flustered (primarily, of course, due to Vulcan social protocol whereas the vulgarity of public emotional displays are concerned... Sanek's typical reaction is simply a raised eyebrow). Most of those close to Sanek and Solida, which include the majority of the bridge crew, have become aware that a relationship now exists between them, and it is a constant source of discussion amongst them during their free time.