Maraht the Horta

== Description ==

Ensign Maraht on the USS Hades

Maraht the Horta
Name:	Maraht
Rank:	Ensign (sg)
Gender:	Orthomale Type B-4A
Species:	Horta
Age:	78
Position:	ACSO
Ship:	USS Hades
Status:	Active Duty

Height 2.5 feet

Weight 450 pounds

Blood Colour Translucent with metallic sparkles

Physical Description Marbled orange and brown armored rock with hair-like phalangi that are on the bottom edge and underneath. A domed voder box (vox) attached on the top allows Maraht to communicate using Galactic Standard. Overall body length is 4 feet and width is 2 and 1/2 feet. Maraht takes after his mother, having followed many of her diet recomendations and so resembles her except for his added vox.

Current Assignment Ensign Maraht (sg) serves on board the USS Hades Science Department as ASCO.

Family and Background

Horta nodules or eggs prior to hatching

As one of the newer hatchlings, Maraht found himself longing to see more of the universe beyond his own tunnel. Although most Horta are homebodies by nature, Maraht felt he was destined for something greater than tunneling in the same old planet, doing nothing but mining, eating, and socializing.

His hundreds of other brothers and sisters thought he was off his rock and needed liberal doses of mica, coal and schist to rid himself of this strange malady. But Venerable Mother Horta decided to support him in his endeavors and soon realized that he would not be content until he got out into the universe. She felt that traveling with Starfleet would help keep him amongst friends who would help look out for him.

Maraht has exceeded even human expectations and surprised everyone, proving that a Horta in Starfleet can be a very valuable and useful officer. Maraht's Mother, although justifiably proud of her nomadic son, remained unsurprised.

Education

Maraht had a mining education out in the field on Janus VI. He majored in Science specializing in areas of Geology, Metalurgy and Tactical Exploration at Starfleet Academy. Maraht graduated with honors in all three fields.

Personal History

Maraht assisted the miners on Janus VI, enjoyed their stories about being off planet, and spent time listening to the communications board when receiving messages from passing ships. Venerable Mother Horta told young Maraht all about the amazing creature called a Vulcan named Spock and his fascination with exploration; she had especially liked his pointed ears.

Maraht wanted to contribute to his people in ways other than mining. He enjoyed listening to Old Samuel's stories about traveling the galaxy in search of fortune and trade. He soon felt the call to join Starfleet once he had achieved 1/2 of his growth. He began to find ways to study and could often be found outside training himself to have no fear of open sky, and toughening himself up with surface hiking before attending the Academy.

Due to his long history of association with humanoid races and humans in paricular, Maraht has grown more expressive with his longer phalange. Horta normally consider it better manners to keep it coiled and tucked up neatly underneath their bodies and used when neccessary for specific tasks. But Maraht has found it helpful to use when communicating to convey visual body language and non-verbal cues, sometimes using it as humans might to talk with their hands. He still prefers to use his longer phalange for task oriented duties around other Horta however. It is possible that during his training and due to more extensive use he has gained more flexibility and range of motion than most Horta.

Starfleet History

Maraht graduated from Starfleet with honors in the scientific fields of Metalurgy, Geology, and Tactical Exploration. He got along well with all of his classmates by wisely choosing to stay out of politics. Although Maraht showed talents in counseling and linguistics, he decided not to major in those areas at the Academy. Maraht became good friends with a human named Stephen Anderson, a Necron Red II individual named Thom Hania, and a Gorn while in the Academy, but they have been able to keep in touch only sporadically.

At one point during his 4 years during the Academy, Starfleet requested Maraht's help with the search and rescue of some children that had been reported missing and suspected of becoming trapped in one of the old mine shafts in the hills around the old historic ghost mining town of Leadville in the Rocky Mountains on Earth.

Though the tourists had been warned repeatedly to not wonder into the mines, three children disobeyed their parents and dared each other to enter the mine at dusk and remain there until dawn. When part of the mine collapsed and trapped two of the three children the third was able to escape to get help. Maraht was asked to help to rescue the children due to his expertise in sensing underground vibration and detecting underground structural weakness.

Maraht was able to get oxygen, limited light, and water to the children in time and then protected them from further harm in the dark by guiding them to safer passages before helping them out of the honeycomb of shafts, dangerous ledges and drop offs. Because of him, they did not panic and were able to survive their two day ordeal without injury.

The entire incident brought a reluctant Maraht into the attention of the media. Though publicly touted as a hero, he found himself the object of hate mail from the often violent group called Humans for Humanity. They later made an attempt to kidnap him from the campus, possibly to make an example of him, and were unsuccessful due to the fact that they had underestimated Maraht's voracity, speed and size. Most of the local cell group were captured.

Upon Graduation Day, Admiral Green assigned Maraht to the USS Mystique where he served as Assistant Chief Science Officer (ACSO). Then the crew recently transferred to the newly built Prometheus Class ship USS Hades.

Medical History

Hortas, being silicon based life forms, need building plaster to heal up from phaser blasts and most types of wounds. However, their armor is so resilient that it is difficult to wound them. Modified Type II phasers would need to be set on maximum. They have no propensity for infection from carbon based viral and bacterial infections, but propensity for infection to non carbon based microbes is unknown. They are immune to their own acid secretions and can survive the cold vaccum of space as long as they have not been previously wounded. Adult Hortas consume about 20-35 pounds of rock material and minerals every 24-36 hours. Consuming refined metals are much like eating a bowl of white refined sugar for humans; edible yet not nutritionally optimal. In addition to a varied diet of metamorphic and igneous rock, Maraht needs to have some deep pressure time in an atmospheric chamber, probably 1-2 times for several hours weekly in an effort to keep his natural armor healthy if a planet is not currently available. Sleep or rest is also necessary for several hours on a weekly basis. For more information about this species see The Horta Report.

There are currently no known drugs that work or are helpful for treating Hortas medicinally. Nutritionally, the old adage applies, "You are what you eat." There are no known anesthetics for pain for this species. Vulcan techniques have proven helpful in instances of coping with pain and injury.

Extensive tests were conducted on Maraht at Starbase 32 prior to his undergoing Academy training for Starfleet, in addition to a detailed evaluation. A nefarious labratory technician had thought it profitable to "take samples" of parts of some of the shinier patches of small crystals and various ores out of Maraht's armored carapace to sell to passing traders. Maraht, though uncomfortable about it due to the absence of any anesthetics, had allowed the extra "samples" to be taken, not understanding the technician's true greedy intent, believing that they were being studied in case of injury and for other scientific testing and analysis. When the truth was discovered by the medical Chief of Staff on Starbase 32, Maraht was horrified to find that parts of his "skin" had been harvested for profit without his consent and the technician was summarily court-martialed, but it was never proven conclusivley if he had any connection to the Humans for Humanity organization. As a result of this regrettable incident, it is reccommended that a relationship of trust be built with Maraht before obtaining fluids and other samples. Labratories and sick bays are uncomfortable for him at first due to his inability to forget these regrettable experiences.

Hortas in general and Maraht specifically exude a dry earthy scent with metallic overtones especially if they have recently been ingesting refined metals or metalic ores. Much of the time Maraht tends to exude his normal dry earthy scent with a touch of vanilla. If injured or ill Maraht has been informed that the state of his scent changes. He was unaware of this as he can't neccessarily detect his own scent easily. If Maraht is ill or injured it has been found that he may exude a more acrid smell.

Skills

Cheerful and psychologically sound: a real rock! Maraht is interested in science as per Geology, Metallurgy and Tactical Exploration, and he has a good handle of fault lines, seismic activity, continental drift, Volcanlogy, and Mineralogy, and although he has considered espionage work, his true goal is to explore the universe. In order to eat, Hortas secrete a molecularly disolving acid based substance from the bottom of their bodies to liquify rock and other minerals deposits before immediate ingestion. In doing so, this creates tunnels and cave structures. Hortas end up being natural geologists and have a strong sensitivity for fault lines, impending earthquakes, and temperature changes particularly due to geological disturbances. The acid secretion can be controlled and aimed carefully enough to carve pictures or messages should his voder box (vox) become damaged.

Maraht is a natural expert planetary crust analyst and can correctly identify the composition of soil, rock, mineral deposits and other geological features and give a analysis much like a chef descibing the spices in a dish of fine cuisine or a wine connoisseur expounding on a fine wine. Unlike humans he does not need oxygen to survive and can exist in the cold vaccum of space if necessary. He may or may not survive the heat and freefall if caught out in space above a planet's atmosphere and pulled into any gravity wells.

Communication

Though Maraht has learned to speak Galactic Standard well, his preliminary testing on Starbase 32 showed a high degree of linguistic skills. It was discovered after having his vox installed that he could communicate reasonably well with short electronic bursts to any communication console board in Galactic Standard or any code, provided that he knew it, necessary to the situation using the built in commbadge in his vox.

Maraht will give verbal cues using his phalangi. When addressing people verbally he tries his best to turn himself so that his speaker grill on his vox is facing in their direction if possible. Maraht's domed vox has a blue stripe, Starfleet insignia, and ranking neatly painted on its surface.

Other Information

Hobbies Maraht has written Horta poetry concerning the flavor, color and texture of different types of rock, soil, and mineral deposits. Love poetry regarding this mineral based context is considered very romantic amongst the Horta.

Maraht also played baseball with his close Academy friends, a Gorn named Dacoral and a human named Stephen Anderson. He became quite good at throwing a fastball and often scored a run or two per game himself. Maraht found it easy to calculate trajectory, angle, speed and wind factors in his pitching.

General Notes

Maraht is aware that many humans feel he looks much like a large albeit lumpy pepperoni pizza with sausage, but being the cheerful fellow he is, Naraht takes it all in stride. People seem to like him and appreciate his upbeat attitude.

Due to poor experiences at Starbase 32 for testing prior to being accepted into the Academy, Maraht prefers not to have people chip off pieces of his armor and has remained wary of medical staff until he has become closely aquainted with them.

Awards

Maraht has no special awards at this time. He currently holds the rank of Ensign though he was recently promoted from junior grade to senior grade with the ending of the last mission 'Port of Call'.

To Join In and Play

Maraht the Horta is played by herbalsheila via the Star Trek: Freedom universe.

Feel free to look around the site at http://www.StarTrekFreedom.com and sign up if you'd like to get involved. From there you go to the Academy where you have the chance to hone your skills and understand how to post your character's replies. After graduation you are assigned to a ship and can expect more email from all of the player characters aboard your ship, usually about eight to twelve people. No dice or stats are involved. To stay in the game you must post a minimum of twice per week. You tell a narrative story from your character's point of view and contribute your small part to a larger ongoing storyline. You are expected to stick to your character's description once you have your bio for him/her/it filled out, but can add to it and create your own Wikipedia file on yourself the player and the character you portray.