Yggdrasil/Vala
From Create Your Own Story
The Vala are Vanaheim's medical staff. They are responsible for caring for the sick and the elderly and also for patching up the Valkyrie and the Viking. There isn't a person alive aboard the Vanaheim who hasn't the care of the Vala at least a dozen times. Living aboard a ship requires a lot more attention to proper care than living on a planet. There is no natural sunlight to soak in or truly fresh air to breathe so vitamin supplements are a necessity. Plus injuries happen a lot more often since if you fall down there isn't usually grass or soil to catch your fall, just metal plating. The sterile environment of a World Ship would result in everyone having really weak immune systems if it weren't for the vaccines and controlled microbe releases the Vala are responsible for. They are responsible for keeping everyone alive and they do a great job of it.
In order to be the best caregivers they can be, many Vala have a medical prosthesis that replaces their hand and much of their arm almost all the way up to the elbow. They completely replace the skin, muscle, and even some of the bone with a whole fake hand and arm which they use as a diagnostic tool. They can scan injuries, transfer data, take tissue samples and administer shots. It is easily one of the most advanced pieces of technology found aboard the Vanaheim, or really any of the nine World Ships for that matter. Plus it looks really cool.
Despite their contributions, the Vala are not always given much respect. During an attack on the ship they are charged with the care of the young, the elderly, and the sick, so they stay huddled in the core rooms with them. Some people think that makes them cowards, but there really isn't a better place for them to be except for the few that remain in the medical bays to see to any Eir who might be injured while operating the ship's systems.
Not to mention that every Viking team has a Vala with them. Their only job is just to focus on healing the injured Vikings, even in the middle of an assault with enemy fire all around. They could die at any minute but they make their patients their only concern. Who is more courageous than that? Viking Vala do get a lot of respect though, at least from their Viking team. They say a Viking will do just about anything for their Vala since they owe them their lives a dozen times over. Anything...
