Stravek's bio

[Stravek]

Thought I'd give the captain's bio a shot. Open to comments, suggestions, corrections, etc.


Although the normal bustle of the crew as it prepped to get underway held to a steady thrum, it was quiet enough for Captain Stravek to indulge in a moment of contemplation Evaluations were due soon for several of the senior and junior staff and his XO, Commander Anthi, had asked for his input and assistance in writing them, as this would be her first time in conducting the reviews for the other officers.

The U.S.S. Relentless was berthed in one of the multitude of dry-docks high above the rust colored flats of Utopia Planitia, undergoing upgrades, refits, and repairs. She had taken a pounding with their last encounter against a True Way outpost and its patrol wing. Casualties and damage were substantially higher this time, with several crew members lost and key systems and hull plates damaged beyond the engineering teams' in-space capabilities.
As the last of the hull breeches were being mended and sensors and other equipment replaced, Stravek watched his crew with the Vulcan equivalent of pride. They had been through several ordeals of late and had survived, scars and pain not withstanding. He could hear final orders being given to make the ship ready and could feel sub-systems come online as power coursed back through the ship.

Momentarily alone in his ready room and leaving the final preparations to others, Stravek gave the crew evals another look. It had only recently occurred to Stravek, as he was reviewing the officers' dockets to fill vacancies, that they were a ship of orphans; displaced and disposed from all corners of the quadrant.

Stravek reflected on his First Officer, Anthi and her caste brother, Shril, the ship's chief engineer. The two Andorian siblings were the heart and soul of the ship, one keeping the crew up to par both mentally and physically, the other mending the combat-battered ship back to health time and again. Brother and sister, working in tandem, often swapping roles when needed. The captain, his pointed ears often hearing probably what was never meant to be overheard, had picked on the fact that the crew collectively referred to the XO and chief engineer, sometimes despairingly, as "Mom and Dad", especially during times that required disciplinary action. The pair, while still in their teens, had lost their parents to the unknown during a deep space exploratory mission. Ever since, the two strove to honor the memory of their parents by becoming some of the finest officers Stravek had served with. Stravek believed that both would make excellent leaders in the all too soon future, considering the fact that Starfleet was steadily being drained of talent on multiple fronts.

Leadership and command was the furthest thing from his tactical officer's mind. H'Caz lived for the fight, either behind his weapons console, or pounding ground (and heads) with his favorite disruptor cannon, which the Rigelian lovingly referred to as "B'ssi" in his native tongue. Stravek had watched once, in utter fascination, as H'Caz, spoke to the weapon like a mother to her child, as he broke down, cleaned, and serviced the big gun. H'Caz was Stravek's responsibility directly, by-passing the normal chain of command with the XO. Stravek had taken H'Caz on as his own, attempting to temper and mold the aggressive tactical officer. The captain often wondered how the Rigelian had made it through four years at the Academy, with enough black marks in his cadet record to gravimetrically pull the starlight from the skies. Stravek, of course, knew the answer, as any good captain would. H'Caz's sponsor to the Academy had sufficient rank and privilege to keep the cadet out of serious trouble. It was because of that admiral, then captain, that H'Caz, like many of his crew mates, was another Starfleet orphan.

Continuing his thoughts on the upcoming reviews and particularly the one that Stravek knew would give his first officer the biggest challenge, was Ensign Hornfels, the Horta MACO. Federation scientists still struggled with adapting the universal translators, like the one "soldered" onto the silicon soldier, to the Hortan language. When word first reach the Federation of what the Borg did to humanoids, the Horta race was horrified as much as their carbon-based peers. After decades of cultural exchanges, it was learned that the Horta prided themselves on individuality as much as any other sentient species. When the Horta discovered that these cybernetic creatures were subsuming another being's personality and uniqueness in the universe, it sent out a rallying cry to the Horta race to help out the "softies". And as war stories from the Borg front reached the Horta home world, they carried the message that the cybernetic implants were quite tasty. The Horta applied to Starfleet in droves for a crack at the "crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside" beings and their delicious geometric ships.

Stravek raised an eyebrow in thought about Ensign Hornfels' true motivation for being as an effective combat officer as he was. Granted, Sergeant Rock, as the combat team often referred to him as, (Stravek didn't get the military reference but the Horta seemed to revel in the nickname) was literally a force of nature when it came time to deal with the Borg. As part of the MACO team, he operated as efficiently and effectively as his humanoid brothers, taking and following orders to the letter. Off-duty, the Horta was lonely and bored - an orphan by his own chemical composition. The closest thing Hornfels' had to a friend was H'Caz, as both like to complain about the level of comfort in the ship. H'Caz took to griping about the chairs on board being to small and Hornfels' persistent dislike of the carpeted areas of the Relentless. He once blurted out via the translator that those areas made him feel "weird". He moved his bunk to one of the metal plated hanger decks early in his tour of duty.

The captain continued down his roster of his crew. More orphans. His science officer, Sazme, an Orion woman whose family had fallen out favor when the power structure within the Syndicate shifted, sending them on the run. They became refugees, seeking asylum on Starbase 27. There the young woman, still gifted with that innate Orion skill of manipulation, found the disciplines of science to be just as rewarding as scheming for political power and ascendancy. She could hold her own in a fight too. Although not an Academy graduate, she earned and was grated a field promotion to lieutenant j.g. while serving on board the U.S.S. Aldrin under Captain Grath, for bravery and courage under fire, and saving the life of the less than cautious CO on more than one occasion. Her transfer to the Relentless three months ago had given Stravek the opportunity to see why she was an asset to Grath and believes she will continue her professional growth as a Starfleet officer here.

Second to last of his assortment of Starfleet foundlings was his most recent addition, transferred aboard just as they were making for dry-dock An IKDF officer, one Lieutenant Commander Krag, who found himself discommendated and shamed from his house, for failure to follow a direct order from a superior officer. That order, from Krag's captain aboard the K'hut'g, was to open fire upon a civilian transport that had accidentally strayed into Klingon space after a bad warp jump. Krag refused, insisting that there was no honor in such an act, only to find his captain's tajtiq at his throat. Krag, younger and faster than his captain, and in an attempt to promote himself by way of assassinating his captain, killed his would be killer. Distracted by his swift victory, Krag's captaincy was short-lived, finding another's blade (most likely another career-focused officer like himself) between his ribs. How Krag wound up on the Relentless and a newly commissioned Starfleet officer, was still a mystery to Stravek. Formal inquiries into this series of events had lead to dead ends and sealed records and Krag was of no help, divulging only what he had to. Unfortunately, Stravek had other resources for intelligence gathering and Drake owed him this time. Stravek hated dealing with the agent, but as the human phrase fit, Drake was a necessary evil. For now, the displaced Klingon acted as the ship's transporter chief. Stravek hoped that brooding Krag could prove himself worthy of the uniform he now wore and the role he filled and not become another distraction or liability.

Picking up a PADD from his desk, Captain Stravek caught a glimpse of the Relentless' chief orphan in the reflection of the blank black glass of the unpowered device. Although unnecessary, Stravek pulled up and began reading his own service record in a kind of meditative mantra. Born in 2369 on the Federation science vessel Archimedes. His father was killed on away mission by the Jem'Hadar in 2373. His mother, ever the pinnacle of Vulcan stoicism, moved on, young Stravek in tow. She was reassigned to U.S.S. Horizon as chief science officer. She later went MIA during a temporal event while in orbit of planetoid DV-426 in 2374. Without family, and far from Vulcan civilization, Stravek was adopted by the Horizon's first officer, Commander Emmick, who raised Stravek as his own son. The young Vulcan lived and breathed Starfleet protocol. Upon coming of age, and the only logical thing to do, Stravek entered Starfleet Academy in 2387, sponsored by now Captain Emmick, and graduated in 2391, fourth in his class. On his first posting he served an uneventful tour of duty as second officer on board the U.S.S. Eielson. Recommended by Captain Howser to attend the new Starfleet War College, Stravek graduated in the first class of this new program in 2394. Fast tracked and promoted to Commander and first officer in 2402 on board U.S.S. Europa, he served with distinction during several actions and campaigns. He became acting captain of the Europa when most of command staff, including Captain Jamok, were killed in a Borg attack. He commanded the Europa on a three year exploratory mission deep in core-ward Alpha quadrant and led two successful first contacts, including the Dralasite Protectorate. Taking command of U.S.S. Relentless in 2409, Stravek's first mission was the establishment and supervision of the construction of the first joint Federation/Ferengi colony world of Damocles, aptly named by him from the turn of events on the new colony that almost led to its failure. Since then, the "Long War" was the current and only mission.

Having literally been raised by Starfleet, Stravek had little exposure to his Vulcan culture and heritage other than his early childhood teachings from his parents. Although still curious about his native world, Stravek found other Vulcans to be somewhat boring and the concepts of hard logic and self discipline held little sway over the captain. Of the few Vulcan ideologies he did embrace, Stravek found that of IDIC to be the most pertinent and useful in his command of a ship filled with galactic diversity. In his studies of IDIC, he found that the concept of family was one of the strongest covenants two or more individuals could share. It was one he had been instructing H'Caz, as well as Anthi, during their weekly development sessions. Stravek remembered reading through the declassified personal logs and journals of a recently deceased Vulcan ambassador, who had embraced IDIC, and how he had used it to integrated himself into his mostly human crew. The late ambassador's journals spoke of finding a balance between the many worlds, both personal and political, in which he found himself. It was these readings and teachings that inspired Stravek to grow beyond the expectations of both his homeworld and uniform.

Among the other journals and log entries Captain Stravek had read over the years, he remembered another captain complaining about his "ship full of children". Stravek too had a ship full of children and though orphans in origin, they were bonded by duty, honor and, sacrifice - the true meaning of family.

The ship gently shuttered as the impulse engines came online and pushed the sleek ship into the dark and back into the war. The Relentless' mission continued....