Samuel Bishop-Se'Lai
Updated: Apr 21, 2023
Dr Samuel Alexander Bishop-Se'Lai
ASSIGNMENT |
RANK |
RDML |
POST |
XO | 38th Fleet |
SERVICE NUMBER |
AK-985-1400 ZXA |
DEMOGRAPHICS |
SPECIES |
Human |
GENDER |
Male |
DATE OF BIRTH |
56364.4 (14 May 2379) |
PLACE OF BIRTH |
Lancaster, United Kingdom, Earth |
HEIGHT |
6'3" |
WEIGHT |
102kg |
EYE COLOUR |
Green |
HAIR COLOUR |
Black |
SERVICE JACKET
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CAREER MILESTONES
2395| Joined Starfleet Academy.
2399| Graduated Starfleet Academy with honours in the Tactical Track, history, and philosophy.
- Commissioned as Ensign on the USS Endurance as a security officer.
2401| Promoted to Lieutenant (Junior Grade).
- Assigned as a tactical bridge officer.
2405| Promoted to Lieutenant.
Transferred to USS Thunderbird as Head of Security.
2408|Completed an extensive survey of Bajoran archaelogy and Bajoran history.
2409| Promoted to Lieutenant Commander.
Reassigned as Chief Tactical Officer.
Discharged from duty and re-enrolled in Starfleet Academy.
2412|Re-Graduated from Starfleet Academy and Starfleet Command School with majors in Archaeology and Military Command.
Promoted to Commander.
Offered a post as First Officer by Captain Jenny Cartwright on the USS Endeavour (NCC 1777).
2413| Awarded the Starfleet Cross for his actions during the siege of Kobali Prime.
2414| Made acting Captain of the USS Endeavour.
Awarded the Starfleet Silver Star.
2415| Awarded the Christopher Pike Medal of Valor.
Promoted to Captain.
Given permanent command of the USS Endeavour.
Transferred to the 38th Fleet, Task Force Argo, Deep Space 13.
2416| Awarded the Starfleet Bronze Star.
Awarded the Prentares Ribbon of Commendation (x2)
Achieved a PhD in Archaeology
Suspended from active duty for Obstruction of Justice
Awarded the Starfleet Bronze Star
Awarded the Starfleet Citation for Conspicuous Gallantry
Awarded the Starfleet Decoration for Gallantry
Awarded the Starfleet Medal of Commendation (x2)
2417| 4 Jan - Returned to active duty following his suspension
4 Feb - Declared MIA after being taken hostage. After Action Report
24 Feb - Rescued from the Icarus. After Action Report
11 April - Cleared for active duty. Communication
1 May - Retakes Command of the USS Endeavour.
14 May - Takes command of the USS Endeavour (NCC 98500)
21 May - Awarded the Starfleet Medal of Commendation
Officially changes his surname to Bishop-Se'Lai.
2419| December - Relieved of command of the U.S.S. Endeavour
- Is made the Executive Officer of the 38th Fleet
2420| May - Promoted to Rear Admiral, Lower Half
BIOGRAPHICAL HIGHLIGHTS
Samuel grew up in a privileged household, slightly spoilt, where he grew up without rules or regulations. He studied at Eton from the age of 11 to the age of 18, where he boarded. He constantly broke the rules here but he was academically gifted enough to not have to try to pass. He did so with ease. He was excellent athletically and captained various teams such as the Football, Rugby, Cricket and Rowing. When he graduated, he enrolled at the academy, more due to tradition rather than his own wish. His first two years at the academy were ones of recklessness and of loitering around, similar to his time at Eton. Threatened with expulsion, Sam was visited by his brother, then a Vice Admiral, who gave him a long lecture about what being a Starfleet officer was about. We do not know what Sebastian told Sam but some people say that Sebastian talked about his time as a cadet on the Endeavour during the Battle of Wolf 359, something Sebastian was not known to talk about. Whatever happened, Sam changed and reapplied himself to his studies, eventually graduating Starfleet in 2399 and passing the Advanced Tactical Training with the recommendation of his brother.
Following his graduation, he was assigned to the USS Endurance as an Ensign. His tactical prowess due to his extensive reading of military history distinguished him from other officers. During this time he served both on the Klingon and Romulan borders. In 2405 he was promoted to Lieutenant and reassigned to the USS Thunderbird, posted in the Alpha Quadrant. During this time, he helped to compile an extensive survey of Bajor, putting his historical knowledge to use. In 2409 he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and was made Head of Security but when there was a reshuffle in the crew, Sam fell out with the new First Officer and was discharged soon after. Sam returned to Earth and decided to go into further education, his time in Starfleet changing his outlook on life and work. In 2412, Sam graduated again with a Primary Distinction in Archaeology, History and Philosophy as well as graduating from Starfleet Command School. To journey back into the Delta Quadrant, Starfleet requisitioned a new line of starships, one of these being the Concorde class. Due to his service record, Sam was handpicked by Captain Jenny Cartwright to serve as First Officer on one of these new ships, the USS Endeavour, a post which Sam happily assumed. The Endeavour served in the Delta Quadrant during the war in the Solanae Dyson Sphere and during the siege of Kobali Prime, Sam was posted on the front lines, where he formed the famed "Kobali Cobras." Following this, the Endeavour played a key part in the Iconian War and when Captain Jenny Cartwright was killed during one of the Herald attacks, Sam was made acting Captain and then later promoted to Captain, being offered the Endeavour and winning the "Christopher Pike Medal of Valor" when the war had come to a conclusion.
Sam was then assigned to the 38th Fleet, Task Force Argo, stationed at Deep Space 13. In 2415, following a message from his old mentor, Dr Kala Anjar, Sam participated in an excavation on Arcturus, where he discovered an ancient relic. On the way back to DS13 however, the Endeavour was attacked and the relic was stolen. Sam was critically injured during the fight and had to be placed in a coma. Following his coma, and having no leads to go on, Sam resumed his duties at Argo, participating in many missions and winning several awards.
In 2416, intelligence reported a ship, similar to the one that had attacked Sam a year previous, and Sam launched a secret mission to identify it. The mission was a complete disaster; somehow, the enemy knew of all the communications, including highly classified data. The only success was that a name was found; the faction who took the relic was called "The Sacred Band."
After the USS Gainsborough went missing in late 2416, Sam participated in the Search and Rescue of the survivors. During this time, he and Captain Keelah Se'Lai, who was in charge of the Gainsborough SAR, became close and the pair eventually began dating. It was at this time that Sam feared that the Endeavour had been bugged. Along with his best friend, Captain Andrej Timoreev, and Keelah, they hatched a plan to test the theory. The trap they sprung confirmed Sam's suspicions and the bugs ended up being found and removed. It was revealed that the bugs had been planted on the Endeavour by none other than Jenny Cartwright, who Sam had a relationship with before her passing in the Iconian War. Following this, Sam received news that his mother had passed away and it was after Sam and Keelah were on their way back from the funeral when Sam proposed to Keelah. Keelah accepted, much to the ire of Sam's brother, Admiral Sebastian Bishop.
In late 2416, Sam was suspended from duty, following two counts of obstruction of justice, for having lied to protect his friend, Aivala t'Aendon. Following this, Aivala was transferred. Upon his return to duty in 2417, Sam continued to aid Keelah and her taskforce in tracking down the Gainsborough survivors which they ultimately did. Sam, however, was struggling to come to terms with his stress and recent events, and although he passed the psychological examination on his return, he was deemed unable to work alongside Keelah due to his emotional attachment. On his way back from a two-week patrol, his ship was ambushed and he was taken, hostage. His capturers and torturers were the Sacred Band, who were a part of an ancient, advanced civilisation called the Senn. The Sacred Band were meant to remove anyone who learnt about them, as the Senn wanted to remain hidden in the universe until a civilisation was advanced enough to meet them. The actions of the SAR taskforce proved to the Senn that the Federation was indeed advanced enough, but Keelah argued that it was the Senn who really needed to remain hidden until they were able to meet other civilisations. They agreed and disappeared off into the far reaches of the universe, cutting ties with the Sacred Band.
When Sam returned he learnt that, in the time he was away, Keelah had given birth to their daughter, TPia, who had been born through accelerated means. T'Pia continued to grow quickly until she reached the age of 16, whereby the growth hormones that had accelerated her growth finally disappeared.
After their marriage, Sam and Keelah both changed their names to reflect their new family.
In May 2417, following months of discussions from Starfleet Command, the Concorde Class was pulled from service to be refitted and upgraded. The USS Endeavour (NCC 1777) was recalled and Sam was given a new command, the Flagship of the Endeavour class ships, the USS Endeavour (NCC 98500). With a new crew, Sam started a new chapter in the stars. On 27th October 2417, a full year after the pair got engaged, Sam and Keelah married.
IMMEDIATE FAMILY
MATERNAL Natalia Bishop (née Rowan) Housewife, Earth. (Deceased 2330 - 2416)
PATERNAL Alexander Michael Bishop Commander in Chief, United Federation of Planets (ret.).(Deceased 2324 - 2380)
SIBLING Sebastian Alexander Bishop Starfleet Commander, Head of Borg Operations, United Federation of Planets. (Deceased 2349 - 2417)Sister in Law: Rachael Bishop (née Alexis) Professor (Political Theory), Starfleet Academy. (Deceased 2360 - 2417)
SPOUSE Keelah Bishop-Se'Lai Captain, U.S.S. Valley Forge.(2381-)
DAUGHTER T'Pia Bishop-Se'Lai Civilian, U.S.S. Valley Forge. (2417-)
FAMILY HISTORY
The Bishop family is an ancient English family. They can be traced back to Greek and Latin origins. It is unknown when the Greek word "episkopos" was first used as a name for the family, although there are records of a soldier in the army named Flavius Julius Octavius Valerius being called "episcopus" or overseer. Valerius served in the Roman army during the Roman invasion of Britain which began in 42 AD. Interestingly Valerius' great-grandfather was killed during Caesar's invasion of Britain in 55 BC. Valerius' son, Quintus Valerius was born in Britain at the time in the invasion and by the end of Agricola's expansion in 84 AD, Quintus was himself leading legions in Britain. He built the Roman garrison at Calunium (modern day Lancaster) and when Quintus retired from the army, he was given a plot of land just outside Calunium. He built a villa on one of the nearby hills. Time moved on and when the last of the Romans withdrew from Britain in 410 AD, the family remained on their plot of land. It was after this withdrawal when the name "Byssop" became more prominent; when the Roman Empire converted to Christianity in 312 AD, the family played a clerical role and the distinction between "episcopus" as a title and a name became blurred. Eventually, the language conversion to Old English changed to the name to Byssop and the surname stuck.
The family fell into obscurity during the next 700 years of post Roman rule. It is to be noted that they still held large swathes of land in the North West of England and that Lancaster was the centre of the rule but they were overshadowed by other notable people in the era. It was only after 1066 when they again rose to prominence. William the Conqueror gifted Lancaster to Roger de Poitou after his invasion and although the lands fell under his dominance, the real owners of the land were the Bishops, paying off Roger so they could rule in his stead.
From 1066 onwards, the Bishop became loyalists to the crown. Through every rebellion, the Bishops supported the crown and they were rewarded handsomely, growing into a large and very influential family. They were firm supporters of the Church of England and the family grew even richer as they mercilessly persecuted Catholics after the English Reformation. The English Civil War was a tough time for the family but their wealth and influence they had gained managed to stave off repeated encroachments by Cromwell during the Interregnum and they were repaid well when Charles II returned to the throne.
As industry developed, the family cashed in on the new technology, further increasing their wealth and influence. It was at this point where the family became highly political and often used their contacts to re-elect Bishop family members to Parliament where they were heavily Conservative. They were also often elected as Prime Ministers. In the next few centuries, they would play a big part in the shaping of Britain and her Empire, often blocking progressive reforms to retain the status quo. They also played a big role in the military, buying higher commissions for their family members.
The Bishops fought for the British in many wars including the American War of Independence, The French Revolutionary Wars, The Napoleonic Wars and the First and Second World Wars.
Though the family was strictly conservative, as times changed, as did their views. After the founding of the Federation, the Bishops adopted their views of toleration, fairness and equality. However, the conservative tradition runs deep in the family and although generally and outwardly they promote Federation views, there are still archaic laws and traditions in the family which can sometimes cause contention.
Historically the Bishops were linked to the Church. As industry took off, the Bishops married into another influential family that had undertaker ties. With this marriage, the Bishops had, in essence, a monopoly on death. The family words come from the amalgamation of their role in the church and their role in business; the Bishops remember where they came from and eventually where they will end.
Family was central to Bishops and failure to follow the strict rules and traditions could eventually lead to the family disowning the person involved, a fate that was worse than death to many Bishops.
In 2417, following the death of Sebastian Bishop, Sam decided to end the Bishop line, closing the door on a direct family line that could be traced back for centuries. This wasn't the end for the Bishops, but a new beginning as the family became known as the Bishop-Se'Lai's from that point onwards.
FAMILY TRADITIONS
Birth and Education
Rings
Marriage
Death
Family Song