Lynae Cassius-Caiton

Carida, a large world with greater than standard gravity and a varying climate, is a loyal Imperial planet in the Core system. Strong gravitational planetary forces encouraged the original settlers to relocate to other worlds that offered climates more suitable for human habitation. Some 200 years before the Galactic Civil War the Old Republic established a military academy aimed at training recruits for localised defense forces. A small community grew up near the site, which then grew into a full-fledged town. Over the centuries the military academy expanded to encompass a Medical School and Research facilities. The only child of Ethan and Alean Cassius, Lynea grew up in a staunchly loyal Imperial household. Ethan, a retired pilot, and Alean a civilian medical researcher, instilled a deep seated loyalty to the empire in their only child. From her parents Lynea aquired a love for flying and the ability to focus her skills on any given task and accomplish it to the best of her abilities. The Cassius family moved a handful of times in Lynea's childhood, part of a resettlement program for retired Imperial soldiers. Her education sharpened her mind and helped bring out her aptitude for research and creativity. Before the age of 18 she'd decided to focus her schooling on medicine and research. Undergoing a series of rigorous and challenging aptitude tests, Lynea enrolled in the Carida Medical Academy. A naturally quiet spoken and intent individual, Lynea focused on her studies to the extent of normal academic life. Deciding on dual majors, one being Emergency Care --which translates to Battlefield First-aid and Triage-- the second being Exotic Diseases Research and Treatment. With both majors to study for she spent an extra two years in medical school before graduating at the age of 26. With both specialities and her medical degree, her first assignment had her posted out in the back of beyond, doing biomedical research for theoretical applications of biological weapons. A variety of postings gave her experience in battlefield hospitals, research facilities, staff assignments all of which merely added to her growing fascination with improving the standard of care and reaction time for battlefield triage. Along with a quiet fascination for the creation of biological weapons and the applications thereof. >>The following are snippets of holorecording taken from a personnel review.. Lynae gives the interviewer a long, level look before speaking. "I would say that I'm not a significant person, nor given to significant events," Lynae replies after a few moments of careful thought. "I've had moments that, upon reflection, have proven to have impacted me in one way or another. But my career, as it is, is a series of moments where my skills and my knowledge, the application of these things, is constantly tested. How can I evaluate this event as more important than the next." She shakes her head slowly as she taps her fingertips against the desktop, "I can tell you of something challenging, if that will suffice." Leaning back in her chair, Lynae clasps her hands in her lap as she continues. "Challenging, actually, is an understatement for this specific case. I was posted as a field MD for one of the forward units on a world we'd been sent to investigate. Now, the planet we were investigating proved to have a wealth of natural minerals and resources that would sufficiently provide the empire with more than enough to make this expedition worthwhile. The commander of our unit was injured in a conflict with some of the indigenous lifeforms and had his hand, literally, bitten off by one of these creatures. I happened to be on the rotation to go with this unit when we were deployed, and managed to cauterize the wound, the amputation site, before our commander could bleed to death. " Lynae pauses again, shaking her head slowly, "I've seen all manner of combat wounds, simple cuts and scrapes that become infected and prove to be fatal. Bug bites that carry diseases that we cant even begin to treat. Battle wounds and explosive decompression. We're field medical personnel, if its out there to be seen, we will see it at one point or another. But this instance, this commander was wounded in a manner that could have proven to be fatal within moments. I don't credit myself with doing anything heroic or anything spectacular. I was in the right place at the right time, managed to cauterize the wound and salvage the nerve endings to the extent that I was, later, able to attach a replacement hand for this commander." "Values?" Lynae replies after another thoughtful pause, "Knowledge, first and foremost. What is life, what is anything, without learning, without intelligence, without those moments of inspiration where you finally make the connection between what you are taught, the situation that you're in, and how to make everything begin to work? I value knowledge, I value learning things that I simply do not know yet. The most respected profession in all the universe should be that held by teachers. What are we, what are any of us, without knowledge? Material goods and gains come and go. Money may open the door, certainly, but its what you do once you pass through that door that matters in the end."       >>>Another blur of holo-recording until the image resumes ..         "I am a doctor, and a scientist, those two words added to one final word: healer, are the sum total of my exisistance. My purpose in life. The learning that I have, the knowledge that I posses and that I have access to serve but one purpose: to help. To help heal, to help learn, to help create that which will or would, ultimately, prove useful." Lynae smiles for a moment, a brief expression of humor, "To lead an ultimately purposeful life. To have made some difference in this small speck of the universe that I'm living in, a difference that isn't huge or vain glorious, but that, at the end of the day, was worth doing. What else is there, in life, but to make a difference? To emply my knowledge and abilities in the fulfillment of the will of the Empire? The holo-recording ends with a blur of gray before the rest of the report is presented in a dry tone of voice, obviously read by the personnel review officer. "A summary of Dr Cassius' personnel file yields a few marks of notable service and several notes regarding her scientific research in the Bio-weapons division. It is to be further noted that Dr. Cassius has obtained the level where several options for postings are presented, accordingly, for her next assignment tenure. " The summary ends just as abrupty as it begins, providing a bare bones brief and a few minutes worth of dialogue with the doctor herself.