Cross

Personnel File
Name:	Cross
Rank:	Lieutenant Commander
Position:	Chief Tactical Officer
Species:	Former Vulcan/Bajoran, Currently full blooded Vulcan
Age:	30s
Gender:	Male
Orientation:	Heterosexual
Birthplace:	Cardassian Prison Camp
Height:	6ft 1in / 1.85m
Weight:	185lbs / 84kg
Hair:	Shaven
Eye color:	Pale Blue
Played by:	Mark Strong
Writer:	Fife
Interests
Music Reading Cooking Gardening Surfing Holonovels
Education
2366-2371: Post-Internment Rehabilitation & Accelerated Education 2371-2374: Starfleet Academy
Service Record
2374-2376: Ensign, Junior Security Officer, USS Hood 2376-2377: Lieutenant Junior Grade, Security Armory Officer, USS Harbinger 2377-2380: Lieutenant, Tactical Officer, USS Harbinger 2380-2381: Lieutenant, Chief Tactical Officer, USS Endeavour 2381-2381: Prisoner, the Versant 2381-Pres: Lieutenant Commander, Chief Tactical Officer, USS Theurgy
Decorations
2374: Starfleet Academy Top 15% of Class Ribbon 2375: Dominion War Victory Medal 2377: Starfleet Medal of Commendation

Lieutenant Commander Cross served aboard the USS Endeavour as Chief Tactical Officer under Captain Amasov. During an attack by the Borg in 2381, Lt. Cross abandoned ship aboard an escape pod and, following the destruction of the Endeavour and several weeks adrift, was subsequently picked up with many other surviving crew by a Savi Precept ship named the Versant. As of March 2381, Cross served on the USS Theurgy, aiding in the opposition against the parasites that compromised Starfleet Command in the end of the 24^th century.

Biography

The exact date of Cross’ birth is unknown, as the Cardassian records of that particular experiment did not survive the liberation of the prison camp he was born in by the Federation in 2366.

Origins

Cross was born as the result of a Cardassian “experiment.” The Cardassian science team at the prison camp decided to take a Vulcan male prisoner undergoing Pon Farr and place him in a locked observation chamber with a Bajoran female prisoner, and so observe the effects of the Pon Farr on the Vulcan. The result, suffice it to say, were the assault and impregnation of the Bajoran woman in question.

The Cardassian science and medical teams closely observed the resulting pregnancy, the culmination of which was the birth of prisoner A17338961, a Vulcan/Bajoran mixed race male infant with a hybrid biology of the two races. A17338961, who the Cardassians referred to as “961” of “Cross” (Short for Cross-breed) had physical characteristics of both his Bajoran and Vulcan parentage, namely the nasal ridges of the Bajorans and the pointed ears of the Vulcans. He inherited the copper-based circulatory system of his Vulcan father, as well as the strength, intelligence and emotional instability inherent to Vulcans, but showed no signs of the telepathic abilities inherent to Vulcans.

A17338961 was “raised” in the Cardassian medical lab attached to the prison camp, never having met either of his biological parents, who were presumably returned to the labor force of the camp following his conception and birth, respectively. No records of his parents or their fate survived the camp’s liberation.

During his time in the medical facility the Cardassians treated him with a mix of scientific fascination and the kind of “kindness” one would show a pet one does not particularly care for. Cardassian scientists regularly performed tests on him, which would often be abusive, invasive and bordering on tortuous. Afterwards he would be given medical care and fed well, more for the ensured continuation of the experiments rather than out of any sense of caring. The scientists also taught him to speak, read and write in Cardassian, and continually administered intelligence tests throughout his time at the camp.

A17338961 spent much of his life in the prison camp locked in a secure wing of the camp’s medical facility. When not actively being experimented on by the Cardassians, he was usually locked in a storage room, but sometimes was allowed to move about in the secured wing of the lab. During such times, A17338961 took great care to avoid the Cardassian scientists as, on the occasions he caught their notice, a new series of “tests” would usually follow.

At one point while A17338961 was still fairly young, he found a large rodent-like creature loose in the lab. A17338961 caught the rodent and snuck it back to his storage room, where he kept the rodent for company. The rodent, slightly larger than an Earth rat, never tried to bite or scratch A17338961, making it the kindest creature A17338961 had encountered. He kept the rodent for several months, giving it small portions of his own food, until the Cardassians discovered his “pet”. The Cardassian scientists laughed at their prisoner’s “fitting” choice of companion, then proceeded to kill the rodent and forced A17338961 to eat it raw, laughing at him all the while. A17338961 forever had an aversion to eating meat after the incident.

Once A17338961 reached adolescence the Cardassians, having found his lack of Vulcan telepathic development disappointing, began to run A17338961 through a series of tests involving psychotropic and hallucinogenic drugs, as well as neural stimulants, to try and awaken any latent telepathy. After many months of testing without results, the Cardassians gave up the line of testing.

Small Acts of Kindness

During all the years A17338961 spent in the camps, one of the only Cardassians who was ever kind to him was the night guard who was assigned to the medical lab. That particular Cardassian, who’s name A17338961 never learned, treated the mongrel with a sort of kind disregard. The guard was a drunk, and would sneak kanar into the lab for his night shifts.

The guard would then proceed to get blind drunk and pass out, affording A17338961 the opportunity to drink whatever was left of the vile, syrup-like liquid. The guard would never complain about A17338961 drinking the remains of his kanar, as the test subject would wake him up before shift change to prevent him from being found passed out while on duty. This “arrangement” continued on over the years, with the alcoholic guard remaining the only Cardassian who treated A17338961 with anything resembling kindness. Over time, A17338961 even came to enjoy the taste of the thick alcoholic beverage. Even after his liberation he continued to drink it, though that particular preference often brought disgusted comments from those around him.

A17338961 never knew what became of the guard, the Cardassian having been transferred to another post two months before the camp was liberated. Despite never knowing his name, the Vulcan/Bajoran hybrid still thought of the man from time to time.

Liberation & Rehabilitation

When the Federation launched their offensive to liberate the camp, the prisoners staged an uprising against the Cardassians who, fighting both the Federation outside the camp and the prisoners inside, took to a scorched earth policy and began to evacuate the camp while simultaneously destroying many camp instillations. In the pandemonium of the evacuations, A17338961 managed to get free, attacking and killing the Cardassian Chief Science Officer and, armed with the Cardassian’s sidearm, several more science officers. (These actions have resulted in A17338961 being listed as a war criminal by the Cardassian Union.)

At the time of the Federation liberation of the camp, prisoner A17338961 was estimated to be approximately 17 years of age. During debriefing and medical examinations conducted by Starfleet following the camp’s liberation, A17338961 was found to have had numerous exploratory surgeries and medical tests performed on him, as well as showing evidence of being subjected to torture. Despite this, he was in relatively good health when compared with the general camp population.

Lacking any proper name and having been called “961” or “Cross-breed” his whole life, A17338961 opted to adopt Cross as his name following his liberation. Following his debriefing Cross was taken in by Starfleet medical officer Lt. Duncan MacDonald who, having discovered Cross had no parents or known family, took pity on him and began his rehabilitation.

Cross returned to Earth with Lt. MacDonald, who was being transferred to a Starfleet research facility in Scotland, and applied himself to his rehabilitation and re-education with great fervor and desire for knowledge. One of MacDonald’s colleagues, a Vulcan Starfleet officer names K’Shem, assisted in Cross’ assimilation into normal life, helping Cross learn how to stabilize his emotions. Having been without such guidance for so long, Cross was able to stabilize and manage his emotions through nightly meditations taught to him by K’Shem, but was unwilling to try and suppress them completely.

Cardassian being the only language he knew, and wanting to throw off ties to the Cardassians, he began to learn to speak, read and write in Federation Standard. Progress in this undertaking was slow, and it would be well into his career in Starfleet before he became proficient enough in Federation Standard to no longer require the use of a universal translator.

With the help of MacDonald and K’Shem, Cross underwent extensive rehabilitation and an accelerated study program from 2366 to 2371 to aide him in achieving his goal of joining Starfleet. His desire to serve stemmed from his gratitude to Starfleet for his liberation.

Early Years in Starfleet

Cross enrolled in Starfleet Academy in 2371, and threw himself into his studies. He found the adjustment to Academy life difficult at first, due to the group and social dynamics rather than the discipline and routine of Starfleet. Over the three years he spent at the Academy, Cross became slightly less awkward around his fellow cadets, and learned to open up and even trust some of them.

Cross graduated from Starfleet Academy with distinction in 2374, being awarded the Starfleet Academy Top 15% of Class Ribbon. Lt. MacDonald and K’Shem both attended his graduation. As a graduation gift, each gave him a small surgical steel hoop earring to wear in his right ear in honor of his Bajoran heritage. They told him they had opted for simple hoop earrings rather than the traditional Bajoran earring because of his not following Bajoran customs. These two earrings are Cross’ most prized possessions.

Cross began his post-Academy career with Starfleet in 2374 as an Ensign aboard the USS Hood, serving as a junior security officer. Cross adapted quickly to life aboard a starship, but once again found it difficult to assimilate with the crew. He didn’t get much time to acclimate to his new surroundings however, as almost immediately after transferring to the Hood it was sent to take part in Operation Return. His first taste of action aboard the USS Hood ended with Deep Space 9 being recaptured from Dominion forces.

In late 2374 the Hood took part in the offensive into Cardassian space with the First Battle of Chin’toka. Cross lost several friends during the offensive, which did nothing but deepen his feelings of animosity towards Cardassians.

USS Harbinger

Following his service on the USS Hood, Cross was promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade and transferred to the USS Harbinger in 2376, serving under Captain Declan Vasser. His served in the tactical department as armoury officer, in charge of the maintenance, issue and storage of the ship’s small arms stores. During this time Lt.(J.G.) Cross proved extremely diligent in his duties and showed great proficiency with small arms. In a sense, the Harbinger was also a fresh start for Cross. With the war over, Cross was able to experience life aboard a Starfleet vessel during peacetime. He was initially reluctant to try and become too friendly with the other officers on the Harbinger, as the loss of friends during the war had left him with a fear of losing those he cared for. Over time, however, he got to know his crewmates. The first real friend he made aboard the Harbinger was the bartender, Rory Callahan. Having spent his years on Earth in Scotland, he had come to enjoy the occasional scotch. He took great pleasure in irking Callahan by ordering “Whisky. The good kind, not that Irish piss!”. He developed a friendship with the ship’s Counselor, Lt. Hayden O'Connor, who also helped him to finally master English, allowing him to stop speaking Cardassian and relying on the universal translator.

In late 2376 Lt.(J.G.) Cross was made a member of the USS Harbinger’s away team and boarding party, and proved himself capable during away missions involving both rescue & recovery missions and tactical boarding missions. Cross was injured on his first away mission while conducting a rescue mission aboard a critically damaged research vessel. While he and the Harbinger’s First Officer were attempting to free a trapped member of the vessel’s crew, the bulkhead above them began to buckle. Cross shoved the First Officer clear of the falling debris, getting trapped and pinned beneath the debris himself.

In early 2377 Cross was involved in an evacuation mission of a Federation colony near the Klingon neutral zone during an attack on the settlement by two rogue Klingon ships, remnants of the 2376 coup against Chancellor Martok who were attempting to destabilize Klingon relations with the Federation. While on the ground escorting evacuees to the designated beam-out site the group came under fire from Klingon forces. Lt.(J.G.) Cross was injured when he was hit by Klingon fire after throwing himself in front of a wounded colonist. Despite his injuries, he escorted his group of colonists to the beam-out site and, seeing them safely away, took a team back to extract a group of colonists trapped by the Klingons. Cross was hit again in the ensuing firefight, and passed out from his injuries after escorting the second group back to the extraction site. His injuries were severe, and it was only through the efforts of Deputy Chief Medical Officer T’Panu that he survived. Cross had previously never felt comfortable around the Vulcan medical officer, but the events led to a friendship forming between the two until her transfer off the ship later that year. For his actions during the evacuations Lieutenant Junior Grade Cross was awarded the Starfleet Medal of Commendation, and was promoted to Lieutenant. Following his recovery, Lt. Cross was reassigned from the armoury to the bridge as a tactical officer.

Cross ran into some difficulty in 2378, when two female officers transferred to the USS Harbinger. The first was Lieutenant Aisha S’Iti, the ship’s new Chief CONN Officer. Whenever his shifts on the bridge coincided with the Cardassian’s, Cross would have to meditate twice as long after his shift, the mere sight of a Cardassian being enough to fill him with anger. The second was Doctor Duv. Cross had little to no experience with romance and, having found himself extremely attracted to the Doctor, found himself shy and unable to talk to her.

The next two years aboard the USS Harbinger were punctuated with stolen glances and, when actually face-to-face with Dr. Duv, stumbled words and sweaty palms. He never did manage to tell her how he felt, although there was an incident that probably alerted her to the fact. During a run-in with a Rogue vessel carrying out acts of piracy, Lt. Cross’ tactical station overloaded. Cross was badly injured in the ensuing explosion and taken to sick bay, delirious and drifting in and out of consciousness. While on a bed in sick bay Dr. Duv came to treat his wounds and, in his delirium, Cross reached a burned hand up and gently stroked her cheek before succumbing to unconsciousness. Cross only vaguely remembers the incident, and never mustered the courage to ask her about it.

USS Endeavour

In October of 2380 Cross accepted a posting aboard the USS Endeavour as Chief tactical officer, serving under Captain Amasov. His new responsibilities seemed daunting as he entered his new role, but Cross eventually came to enjoy his posting. He quickly found friends among the crew, specifically Kai Akoni, the ship's new Chief security officer who had also just transferred aboard. Following the Borg attack on the USS Endeavour, Lt. Cross abandoned ship on an escape pod.

Personality Profile

Cross’ upbringing in a Cardassian prison camp was anything but a happy childhood, and had left him emotionally closed off for the most part. His post-internment rehabilitation, as well as the time spent with Lt. MacDonald and K’Shem, helped him learn to function in society, to regulate his emotions, and to deal with the anger that had been a problem throughout his life. Trust, however, did not come so easily to Cross.

Since being liberated by Starfleet, Cross had felt a deep desire to serve in Starfleet and to be the embodiment of the hope and good that he saw in the Starfleet officers that day.

Cross had never been able to forgive the Cardassians for the treatment he received at their hands. He also had not had positive dealings with the Vulcans (Aside from K’Shem) who tended to view him in a negative light due to his lack of emotional mastery and his young years by Vulcan standards.

Cross had no sense of belonging among Bajorans or Vulcans, and did not follow the customs of either species. He tended to feel more at home among humans, as he spent the years immediately following his liberation among them on Earth.

Cross had a strong sense of loyalty, arising from the debt he felt he owed to Starfleet for his freedom. Once his loyalty was earned, he would stand by you until the end. That being said, his respect was hard to earn. His harsh life in the prison camp had left him feeling that most people play the victim without cause, and he tended to view such behavior harshly.

Cross also had a kind streak in him, and genuinely cared for others. He also had a strict sense of right and wrong. He would fight tooth and nail, using whatever means, and would gladly have put himself in harms way to protect his friends, comrades, and the innocent.

Cross’ physical manner tended to display a somewhat defensive nature. Cross often held himself rigidly, his arms crossed, giving off the impression of being closed off. He had a habit of not blinking enough, or blinking with his Vulcan second eyelids, giving the impression that he was boring into people with his stare.

Cross had difficulty making friends, and had trouble with intimate relationships due to a reluctance to “let people in”.

Cross’ interests were few, as he had spent the first half of his life without the luxury of hobbies. He enjoyed music (mostly Classical, Opera and Reggae from Earth’s 20th century), Cooking (He ate little, strictly vegetarian, but enjoyed experiencing different flavors.) and gardening (growing something beautiful was a great pleasure for him after experiencing so much cruelty and death in the prison camps.).

Physical Profile

Cross was a humanoid male whose appearance was a blending of his Bajoran and Vulcan parentage. He had pale skin, piercing pale blue eyes, and kept his head and face shaven. He stood 6’1” tall, and was lean and muscular. Cross wore two plain steel hoop earrings in his right earlobe, gifts from the two men who aided him in his rehabilitation and education. These earrings were treasured gifts, which Cross never removed.

From what could be understood of his genetic makeup by Starfleet medical, he was expected to have the longevity on par with his Vulcan heritage, but had developed mentally and physically more quickly, most likely due to his Bajoran genetics.