Freedom City Trek

[Avenger Assembled]

Freedom City Trek

 

IKS toQ

 

The IKS toQ, named for the predatory birds that soared above Captain Krek's estate, is a top-of-the-line B'rel Bird of Prey - one specially modified to fire torpedoes and lay mines while cloaked. This made it all the more outrageous when Captain Krek and his crew mutinied at the beginning of the war with the Federation, turning rogue (and pirate) rather than war against their allies. Now back in the KDF's good graces with the coming of peace, the toQ's crew is a motley one - but one that has proven itself again and again. 

 

Captain Krek of the House of Kri'stak - For all his prowess in battle, Captain Krek is a young man, albeit one whose skill with the mek'leth is unmatched in the Fleet. Opponents both inside and outside the Empire have at times mistaken his sense of humor, and willingness to let his officers quarrel with him in a crisis, for weakness - a mistake that they are lucky to make once and do not make twice. 

 

First Officer Talyana - Talyana is not a young Klingon, her service in the KDF dating back to the days before the Treaty of Khitomer, but her force of personality, skill with a blade, and formidable tactical cunning mean she is among the greatest warriors on the toQ. She is I.I. - Imperial Intelligence, and was originally assigned to the toQ to keep track of its roguish captain. He eventually persuaded her that his course was the honorable one - or did he? Even in their bed, she keeps her own council. 

 

Chief Engineer Miral - "No relation to the khesten Kuvah'magh!" A brilliant engineer, she is actually the designer of the toQ's advanced cloaking device. She has no Great House of her own, though rumors of a past betrayal and outcast status dog her away from ship. Technically a civilian, she became de facto chief engineer after the death of her predecessor in an honor duel (he objected to the toQ's defection from the KDF) and has by her brilliance kept her position since - as she has her place in the physician's good graces. 

 

Physician Lelel of the House of Kri'stak - Lelel used to be the head nurse aboard the toQ until her predecessor joined the mutiny against the captain - who just happened to be her own elder brother! Federation-trained before the recent war, her gruff personality and sharp tongue has kept her patients in line even when they complain about her unnatural surgeries and other medical arts.  
 
Chief Tactical Officer Four of Seven - Four of Seven had a name once, and a House, and his honor. Then the Borg came. Freed from a mysteriously destroyed cube by the crew of the toQ, Four of Seven has slowly learned to balance his own skills as a warrior with the physical and mental upgrades that came with his assimilation. Has been challenged once for his position (after allowing a Breen civilian ship to flee a battle) and proceeded to beat his then-second into Lelel's sickbay with nothing but his bare hands. 

 

Chief Quartermaster Soriun - Soriun is an El-Aurian and a long-time advisor (in more ways than one) to young Captain Krek. It was her advice that persuaded Captain Krek to listen to his inner scruples and turn rogue when the war with the Federation began, and her words that helped win Talyana to the captain's side. She is a mysterious woman, and by far the most long-lived of the crew. 

 

 

USS Freedom 

The Freedom is a Galaxy-class ship - a model that's getting old these days but is still the backbone of Starfleet. The Freedom, a ship that's been in service since the 2360s, isn't quite in the forefront of exploration anymore, but whether they're bringing aid to a famine-stricken colony, moving colonists to their new home, or battling pirates operating inside Federation space, they still see their share of action. The Freedom generally operates out of Janus VI, whose native Horta have a special bond with Captain Lumins, who rescued the Altar of Tomorrow early in her career.  

 

Captain Stesha Lumins - Originally the ship's chief medical officer, Stesha Lumins is a friendly captain who loves her crew and is sometimes (maybe often) their surrogate parent. A recent divorcee, she specifically requested a command where she could have her daughter Amaryllis with her. (Starfleet typically does not put families on starships these days, but vessels that serve behind the lines still have that option.) 

 

First Officer/Science Officer Tarrant Knight - Most officers don't have the dedication to hold down two demanding posts like science officer and first officer, especially not in today's Starfleet- but the hard-working Tarrant Knight is no ordinary officer. He's brilliant, dedicated, and devoted to his work - albeit maybe not the people person that first officers usually are. (It helps that Captain Lumins likes to handle crew relations more than the typical captain does.) 

 

Chief Medical Officer Dr. Yrtimd Kovpesh  - Yrtimd Kovpesh is an Iotian, an older man who's been in Starfleet for many years. Raised in a traditionalist family, he still has many of the customs of the Iotians of the 22nd and 23rd centuries - speaking his Standard with a deliberate accent, wearing his people's traditional garb when off-duty, and practicing traditional forms of Iotian ranged combat in the holodeck. (Or at least that's what he says - sometimes the crew are sure he's making up those holidays like St. Valentine's) He's a bit of a flirt and sometimes an odd duck, but his heart is in the right place. 

 

Counselor Borhyal Pah - Borhyal Pah was a new vedek on Bajor when the Prophets told him that his secret desires were no sin but a promise for the future - the stars were his destination. He's done his best to balance his faith and his role as a secular therapist and healer, a journey that's sometimes a difficult one but is always one he's eager to walk. His spirituality and broad experiences outside of Starfleet give him an advantage in First Contact and diplomacy situations, meaning he generally has a station on the bridge when not engaged in therapy.  

 

Security Chief Tikamat - Tikamat is an Excaliban, a member of a reclusive, advanced race of silicon-based shapeshifters located near the edge of Federation space. Bored with her people's habit of studying passing cultures rather than building their own, she chose to journey out into space and make contact with a Starfleet science team commanded by then Lieutenant Tarrant Knight. Shifting between a humanoid form and her native red-hot, rocky form, Tikamat is new to Starfleet but likely has a bright future ahead of her - if she can control her fiery temper. 

 

 

USS Liberty 

The Liberty is an old Miranda-class ship with a proud tradition of service dating back to the 2270s. Technically the oldest ship still on active service, it's been in its fair share of fights and always come out on top, making a speciality of tangling with the ancient races and cosmic intelligences that enjoy treating other sentients like playthings. Every year the fleet talks about retiring it, every year it stays in service. Sometimes a classic is a classic. 

 

Captain Trevor Hunter - Trevor Hunter has worked his way up from the lower decks, having first been assigned to the Liberty as its chief engineer. His grandfather held that position upon its launch in the 2270s, a fact that fills him with quiet pride. A brilliant, albeit reserved tactical mind, he relies on his gregarious first officer for most of his interaction with the crew. 

 

First Officer Corbin Hughes - Big, bluff, and a big fan of archaeology, people like Corbin Hughes pretty well. He likes being first officer, especially for the chance to lead away missions and discover some exciting new artifact on some exotic planet. He doesn’t like to throw his weight around. He came up in the science track and his own regret about switching to command is having to give up his blue uniform! 

 

Security Chief Erin White - Erin White isn’t from around here. Born in a grim universe dominated by the United Empire of Planets, Erin fled to this dimension just before that timeline’s Starfleet could close in on her parents’ small resistance cell. Her childhood taught her watchfulness, preparedness, and how to fight to the last. She and Captain Hunter were recently married in a ceremony on Hunter’s native Mars. 

 

Chief Engineer Mik'kiee - A tragic case, Mik'kiee is a Deltan born with birth defects that left his empathic senses haywire and his pheremonal abilities almost non-existent. With fewer than a handful of lovers by the time he'd come of age, he knew he could never fit in in Deltan society and so retreated to the comforting confines of Starfleet. As an adult, his reunion with his childhood love Tskiee was a joyous thing, as she guided him towards mastering his empathic abilities and compensating for his weak pheremonal suite with her own. 

 

Tactical Officer ch'Nade - ch'Nade is a tough fireplug of an Andorian, a stocky chan's chan who routinely scraps with the MACOs under Erin White's command for fun. His role in a battle is usually behind the tactical console, though, targeting phasers and torpedoes with uncanny accuracy. If the security chief fights in melee, using her sword to great advantage, he's the one who hangs back during away missions and picks things off with his phaser. He loves the United Federation of Planets more than anything, and in his cups may be intemperate about this in the style of his people 

 

Counselor Marl Lumas - Marl Lumas is a full-blooded Betazoid with the friendly, open manner of many Betazoid men. That wouldn’t get typically get him a slot on the bridge, of course, but he’s also a trained First Contact specialist and diplomat, with an uncanny ability to win people over. His telepathy is unusually powerful even for a Betazoid, generally leading him to avoid carrying weapons. Recently married to the ship’s helm officer, he’s just about to become a father.  

 

Science Officer Tskiee - T’sikee is a Deltan by birth, given to colorful dress off-duty with a sunny personality that makes her popular wherever she goes. She takes her people's oath of celibacy very seriously and works hard to downplay her own natural pheremonal aura of sensuality to make it easier to work among non-Deltans. That being said, she is _very_ happy when she and her husband are able to take shore leave together. (They usually push the air recyclers pretty hard.)

 

Chief Medical Officer Crimson Eagle - Crimson Eagle is one of the first androids in Starfleet, an Exo-III type refitted and rescued by Captain Hunter from her dying planet, and a recent graduate of Starfleet's medical extension program. Though of a warrior disposition herself, she sees her role as supporter rather than supplanter, and rarely goes on away missions. Her role is to assist others rather than lead herself. 

 

Helm Officer Darsah - Darsah is a Cardassian, the daughter of a prominent Gul, albeit one with much more interest in other cultures than your typical Cardassian. On a long-term exchange assignment, she’s proven herself to the crew time and again but her habit of "sharpening the blade of her lies” around the rest of the crew means she’ll probably spend the rest of her time in Starfleet as an ensign. Still, she and Counselor Lumas get along well - well enough that her recent request for maternity leave came as little surprise. 

 

 

Martel Station 
Martel Station is on the Federation-Tholian border, in a part of space frequently visited by travelers from all over the Galaxy, and the only reliable port in a region of space beset by ion storms, black stars, Orion piracy, and similar interstellar hazards. It's technically a Federation station, but its distance from Starfleet headquarters (and dependence on outside traders) means that its commanders have learned to lead with a light hand. 

 

Commander T'Seve - The station's commanding officer, Commander T'Seve is from an old Starfleet family - her great-aunt was Travis Hunter's first commanding officer back in the 22nd century. A gifted telepath, she was recently formally bonded with her longtime lover, the Caitian second officer of one of the few Starfleet ships that regularly visits Martel Station. She thinks sometimes of resigning her post to join her mate among the stars - but she has a duty to her people and to her family. There are secrets in Martel Station that she would prefer nobody know, secrets that date back to the founding of the Federation. 

 

Lieutenant Commander sh'Torm - An Andorian shen, Commander sh'Torm is a woman out of time. She was serving on board the Constitution-class USS Challenger when it entered a time vortex in 2264, emerging over a century later in an unexpected future. One of the Challenger's few survivors, she remained in Starfleet, looking for shadows of her lost identity, but adjustment has been difficult. She commands the Tempus, the small escort-class ship that is the biggest 'gun' around the station, and has recently become the lover of the mysterious El-Aurian who is technically Aquaria's employer.

 

Lieutenant (j.g.) Jessie White - Jessie White is Commander T'Seve's personal adjunct, a victim of profound psychic and physical trauma. Assimilated by the Borg on her first shore leave, she spent a hellish time as part of the Collective, before being 'liberated' by an ion storm that only delivered her into the hands of Orion slavers who saw her as an exotic trophy. Jessie doesn't like to talk to people - but she works hard, she does her job, and she likes her friends. She has an uneasy relationship with her counterpart - what does it mean that the other Erin has been so much better at being a Starfleet officer than her? If her double from another universe, from an _evil_ universe, is a Starfleet hero - what does that say about her?

 

Daffnee - Technically just one of many ambassadors assigned to the station, Daffnee is a Vorta who claims a sincere interest in the Federation and Federation culture. (She says she was far away when the Dominion War happened and never fired a shot at a member of the Alliance.) She seems like a genuinely decent, likable person who sincerely wants what's best for everybody, and her fellow ambassadors like her so much that she often speaks for them in their relations with the crew. She seems nice. But then, that's what Vorta do, isn't it? 

 

Aquaria - Aquaria is a Gorn, of an aquatic clan that strongly resembles a bipedal saltwater alligator from Terra. A few years ago she was serving on a science vessel that destroyed a Orion Syndicate vessel that had dared cross into their territory - while cataloging the ship's hold, she found Ensign White, then a deeply-traumatized prisoner and ex-Borg recently purchased by the Orions. Horrified when her captain ordered the human's death, she turned her coat and ran, rescuing her prisoner and fleeing to the Federation. Now she tends bar at Martel Station, a gregarious, friendly sort despite being a six-foot crocodile with fangs big enough to bite through a Klingon's armor.