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Revision as of 20:42, 11 September 2024
Character Draft Awaiting Approval
Hassar al-Zaheer was a Vaharran, a people who had spent the previous three centuries travelling through space in search of a new home after their original home world was destroyed. After his son and over a hundred other Vaharrans were kidnapped by an unknown enemy, Hassar led a secret mission to track down those responsible and rescue his people. During his search he found the USS Theurgy and learned of the great plight that was The Infested and agreed to help them drive the vile enemy from the galaxy.
Biography
Early Life - 255th-275th Fleet Years (2328-2348)
In the 255th year (Earth year 2328) of the Tyrosian exodus from their destroyed homeworld, Hassar al-Zaheer was born among the stars to his hudika (fathers) Ahmel al-Zahnod and Nazeen al-Hakeer aboard Nazeen’s ship the exploration cruiser Agaros. Ahmel was Commander of the Agaros and next in line to assume the role of Admiral of the Tysosian Navy, a Vaharran of few words but a highly capable leader; Nazeen was a farmer on one of the agricultural ships, big strong and full of laughter. The two met on the fleet’s seat of the government and recreation center, the Vitrios, formerly a cruise ship many years earlier, and immediately hit it off. They were married a few months later, but owing to medical complications Ahmel had great difficulty in bearing children. It was a few years before they finally were able to have a child, that being Hassar, named after the mythological hero.
Hassar’s childhood was much like every other child’s in the Fleet, the only real difference was that once Ahmel became The Admiral he got to live in the spacious Admiral’s Quarters on board the Agaros. At the age of five he went to school with the other children, thanks to the teachers of the Tyrosian Fleet Education Bureau, and was described by his teachers as stubborn and would frequently have tantrums if he did not get his way, further he tended to sneak out of class to wander the ship. Despite these antics he did excel at certain aspects of his studies and all indications were that he would one day be a farmer like his hudika Nazeen
However what Hassar’s parents and the adults in general kept hidden from the children was the dire state of the The Fleet which was entering a rapid decline as equipment that had been operating for over two hundred fifty years started to fail completely, supplies ran short, raw materials and the ability to extract them became fewer. Nearly all medical supplies had been exhausted and the ever present fear of a disease like the one that had claimed over 50,000 Vaharrans in the 197th year of the journey. But while the situation was dire it was not critical or desperate, that was still several more decades to come. As he became an adolescent, Hassar started to hone in, with guidance from his teachers and parents, on what his eventual job within the Fleet would be. Despite early signs that he would be a farmer, a highly appreciated job in the Fleet, his test scores and aptitude showed that he would better be utilized in the military, though there was suspicion that The Admiral had perhaps pushed for this outcome. Further it was noted based on his intelligence that Hassar would specifically do best in an officer role or fast tracked NCO role. As such his final years of schooling were dedicated to preparing him for the Fleet’s military academy. For Hassar himself, who, while perhaps wishing for a more simple life as a farmer as it was more in line with his beliefs in Kyros, he had started exploring his spirituality during this time, he was excited to join the military with his eyes set on becoming a member of the Marines.
At age 20, Hassar reached adulthood. He celebrated this with his hudika, other diim (kin) and friends aboard the Vitrios and chose to take the surname of his hudika, Al-Zaheer, a combination of both surnames, in honor of them. It was also here, like his parents, where he met his future partner Adaar al-Dakana, the two spending the night together after the festivities. The two of course slept with each other but they also stayed up for hours talking and sharing laughs. Adaar worked on one of the refinery ships, was a big brute of a man, but loved music and played the sakon drums, he had come on board the Vitrios to play with a band that was in the same restaurant as Hassar and his family. The two would continue to see each other every chance they could get as they fanned the flames of their love.
Early Military Career - 275th-286th Fleet Years (2348-2359)
To be an officer in the Marines, Hassar had to go through the military academy and graduate with high marks in certain courses. He excelled at his courses but frequently would butt heads with his instructors due to his stubbornness, but he also felt he was unfairly singled out for disciplinary action because his father was the Admiral and as such the instructors wanted to not appear as if they engaged in any sort of favoritism. For Hassar’s part he never went to Ahmel with these issues nor Nazeem (who would obviously tell Ahmel) and did his best to try harder and keep himself out of trouble. It was during this time that he really took to a strict regime of proper meditation to relieve stress, as well as seeing Adaar on rare occasions when he had leave.
His efforts paid off in the end and Hassar was able to graduate from the military academy near the top of his class with and commissioned a Lieutenant (3rd Rank) with his first assignment as a gunnery officer aboard the flagship and the place of his birth, Agaros. Being in the military during the Fleet’s journey in search of a new home was a bit different to what a normal military was expected to do. In addition to providing protection from external threats, though at the time the Vaharran people had never knowingly encountered other aliens, military’s main roles were: keeping order, managing fleet traffic, overseeing refueling and resupply of civilian ships, navigating the fleet through space, and lastly, and perhaps most importantly, looking for a new world to colonize. Thus, even though Hassar was a gunnery officer, he was not idle. In fact he did very little in the way of gunnery during his six years aboard Agaros.
Shortly after Hassar turned 25, about a year into his commission, Adaar requested that they be married, which Hassar of course accepted right away. In a simple and quiet ceremony in the traditions of Kyros the two were bonded for life. Adaar would be able to live with Hassar on whatever ship he was posted on but due to the nature of his own job he would have to spend several days aboard his refinery ship at a time. But the two were happy, and hassar would always remember fondly the two of them having to share his small cabin.
After completing his requisite six years as a regular naval officer, Hassar was able to apply to and was accepted into the Marine Officers School. Here he would learn all the duties of a Marine and the other duties that the current fleet needs required, Marines served as the fleet’s police force and the officers conducted investigations of criminal activity.
Starting a Family - 286th-290th Fleet Years (2359-2363)
His marine training took a year, but with its completion came a new posting aboard the cruiser Saratios and a promotion to Lieutenant (2nd Rank). Another development came as a bit of surprise, during a routine medical checkup it was found that Hassar was pregnant. While him and Adaar had not been actively trying for one they also had not taken all the precautions they should have to ensure it. The two had originally wanted to wait a few more years until Adaar could leverage his seniority to work one of the civilian positions on whatever ship Hassar was posted at the time. But even though the timing was not quite what they had wanted the two parents were quite happy over the news.
Hassar was able to continue his duties for much of the time that he was with child, but after six months he had to be assigned to lighter duties as he physically could not wear his body armor or fit into a space suit. Also Adaar was able to convince the commander of his own ship to approve a transfer to the Saratios, the job there wouldn't be particularly glamorous, mess attendant, but it would mean that him and Hassar were living together full time and he could help care for the child more easily once he was born. As the final months of his pregnancy came Hassar stubbornly refused to take time off from even his lighter duties. The Commander of the Saratios eventually just gave up and found assignments that would keep Hassar busy but also relatively close to the ship’s sick bay, mostly things like paperwork. Hassar and Adaar’s suri (child), Raazod was born late in the 286th Fleet Year (2359) aboard the Saratios.
While the happy new parents were settling into their new life, around that same time a secret meeting was held between the Pykaar, leader of the Tyrosian government, the Admiral, and experts from several logistics and scientific fields. The topic was of the current status of the fleet and how much longer it would survive. The conclusion of the experts was that it would perhaps make it another thirty years before mass starvation would occur and the Vaharrans as a species would die out. The only hope was to find a habitable world to settle before then, luckily the fleet had just arrived in a more densely packed sector of space so the odds of finding a new world were hopefully high. The main drawback was that only the military ships were fast, the civilian ships really only had faster than light drives to operate within a system to rapidly reduce travel time; further there were only a handful of military vessels and their personnel were still needed for other vital functions within the fleet. Thus a search plan was created that would put at least two to three cruisers at a time out ahead of the fleet to search systems with possible habitability. To aid in this the fastest warp capable small transports were assigned to these cruisers to expand the area that could be searched by checking system that have less probability that were near the primary system being searched.
For Hassar over the next few years he would, as part of Saratios’s crew, aid in the search for these home worlds and on occasion be attached to or even command some of the secondary search missions. As the years went on though Hassar and Adaar could see that things were rapidly starting to deteriorate throughout the fleet at a rate far faster than ever before. Every other month some crop or food item was no longer available, ships suffered constant equipment failures with some whole ships having to be abandoned all together due to damage or needing to be stripped down in order to help the other ships in the fleet; but most noticeably was that tensions were running high as a collective anxiety of the future took hold of the remaining survivors.
The Somal Coup - 290th Fleet Year (2363)
In the middle of the 290th Fleet Year the cruiser Idarika found a system that had the possibility of containing a habitable world. Upon arrival in the system the only planet they found in the habitable zone was entirely too cold (what Starfleet would catalog as a Class L); only the equatorial region had a chance to sustain the Vaharrans but it would be a very rough life without a guarantee that the species could survive long term let alone flourish and rebuild their civilization. When the Idarika reported back there was a strong sentiment among the population that they should try to settle the planet despite the barely habitable environment, but the Pykaar and Admiral both made it quite clear that it would be impractical for the fleet to colonize that planet. The coordinates were carefully plotted however, just in case nothing could be found before the fleet started to collapse.
For most people the matter was dropped once the initial excitement wore off and the reality of what living on such a cold world would be like, but there were a few who saw this as a rash decision that would lead to disaster. Chief among these was Commander (2nd Rank) Udin al-Somal, he believed that this rejection of a less than ideal but suitable world was an attempt by Pykaar al-Tanada and Admiral al-Zahnod to hold onto their emergency powers per a clause in the Provisional Constitution that they must give up these powers when a planet was found and settled. Al-Somal gathered a group of like minded civilian and military ringleaders together in order to stage a mutiny and remove the Pykaar and the Admiral from power then return the fleet to the cold world to settle it.
The day of the mutiny began with the covert transportation of additional mutineers to the Agaros in order to assist Al-Somal in taking it over; he expected the ship and fleet as a whole to join him once he announced his plans to return to the cold world. At the same time a group of civilians and soldiers disguised as civilians boarded the Vitrios in order to arrest the Pykaar led by disgraced High Council member, Shek al-Kason. Also arriving on board the Agaros was Hassar who had come to see his parents for a bit of catching up and lunch. Ahmel had just got done talking to Nazeem, who would be a little late because of an issue on one of the agricultural ships, when the mutineers burst into his quarters and arrested him. This was followed shortly be a group of mutineers storming the control room of the ship, a bitter firefight taking place that left the ships Commander dead and most of the senior officers killed or wounded. Al-Somal had taken control of the Agaros. At roughly the same time the mutineer group led by Al-Kason stormed the government offices on the Vitrios to arrest the Pykaar only to find that he was not there or anywhere on the ship. The Pykaar was in fact on the Agaros, his son was in labor and due to give birth within the hour so he immediately took a transport over and forgot, in his excitement, to tell his staff. He would be recognized by a mutineer and briefly captured but was very soon after rescued by Hassar who had heard the sounds of gunfire from the area of the control room and realized something was wrong. Hassar then led the Pykaar through the lower decks of the ship in order to reach a transport that could get him to safety, along the way they picked up several loyal marines and ratings who reported that it was some kind of mutiny.
The group was able to get the Pykaar off the ship aboard a transport and smuggled him off the ship to the Saratios. The next step was to retake the ship. Hassar led the assault group towards the control room while another group caused a distraction by damaging equipment to trigger alarms and fire at mutineer sentries. The attack on the control room itself, much like the first, was a bitter firefight. The room had few entry points and with plenty of consoles to hide behind it took longer than expected to defeat the mutineers. In the process Hassar was wounded in the leg and three of his loyalist followers were killed but in exchange all the mutineers were killed, including Al-Somal’s second in command, but one who surrendered. Al-Somal himself was not there. Upon learning that the Pykaar was not aboard the Vitrios he went to interrogate the Admiral, but when Hassar attacked and recaptured the control room he took the Admiral and several other officers hostage then retreated with the remaining mutineers still willing to fight for him into the fire control center.
With no other senior officers present Hassar was forced to take command of the Agaros. He ordered the ship to move out of the center of the fleet to protect the other civilian vessels and isolate the ship from any additional mutineers but quickly found that in the chaotic fighting most of the controls had been damaged and the auxiliary control station in the stern had been cut off by the mutineers. Further he learned of where Al-Somal and most of the mutineers had retreated to when the leader made an announcement over the ships comms that he would execute the hostages including the Admiral as well as use the ship’s main guns to fire on the civilian ships if his demands were not met. Due to his wound Hassar could not lead the hostage rescue himself and instead coordinated the remaining marine units in the vicinity to retake the fire control center while other officers in the control room attempted to find a way to isolate the main battery so it could not fire on the civilian ships.
The assault on the fire control center was swift and lethal to the mutineers. Taken completely by surprise, Al-Somal had insisted that the loyalists would not risk the hostages in an attack, most of the mutineers were gunned down in the opening seconds of the attack. Al-Somal took his own life rather than face capture and those mutineers that had survived the initial assault surrendered. None of the hostages were killed in the assault but the Admiral was in pretty rough shape having been beaten by his captors to find the location of the Pykaar. As for the group on the Vitrios led by Al-Kason when it became apparent that the mutiny would not succeed, especially with the Pykaar unaccounted for, the group fled hoping that they would not be implicated. Al-Kason would choose to remain behind and was arrested shortly after marines boarded the Vitrios. The remaining mutineers would all be tried and sentenced to hard labor except for Al-Kason, the sole surviving ringleader, who was executed for treason.
Final Years of the Fleet - 290th-292nd Fleet Years (2363-2365)
Hassar spent several months recovering from his wound while the rest of the fleet recovered from the mutiny itself. While the mutiny in the grand scheme of things did not have the same impact as The Schism did, it was a worrisome sign of possible things to come as the fleet deteriorated. The government ordered a redoubling of efforts and the military further increased its scouting missions to find a new world, straining the delicate system that kept the fleet running to the brink.
For Hassar and his family things seemed to go back to some sense of normalcy. Raazod started school in the 291st Fleet year (2364) and was already turning out to be quite a smart kid. However things were not all good, Adaar had been growing gradually more and more ill throughout the year, initially it was just dismissed as exhaustion from work but then other worrying signs started to pop up. After collapsing while at work Adaar was taken to the Agaros to see one of the fleet’s better doctors who determined that he had Ganda Syndrome. Ganda Syndrome was genetic disease that normally manifested in elder Vaharrans where their bodies are unable to efficiently process protein and thus would leave to muscle atrophy and other health problems over time; but when this disease occurred in a much younger Vaharran it was usually high aggressive with a life expectancy of only months. Normally the disease could be treated by medications and even someone who had the disease at a young age could live a nearly full life span, but the chemicals that were used to synthesize the medication had run out nearly a decade before meaning that there was no adequate treatment to stop or slow the disease. The doctor gave Adaar about a year with the only treatment being pain management.
While this news was quite devastating, Hassar and Adaar tried to make the best of the time they had left. They also tried their best to prolong breaking the news to Raazod, but as the months wore on it became harder to keep it from him as the one energetic Adaar was unable to play, help draw pictures of spaceships, play music, or walk him to school. Even the family reading time was too much for Adaar, who used to give silly voices to the characters to amuse Raazod. His final months were spent in and out of lucidity as he was now entirely bedridden, and as the fleet passed into its 292nd year he passed away quietly in his sleep. The loss had a profound impact on Hassar who turned to his spirituality to deal with his grief.
The Miracle - 292nd Fleet Year (2365)
Several months after the loss of Adaar, Hassar returned to his duties in earnest, while he was still mourning the loss he could at least function in some capacity again. With the fleet still in full swing searching for a new home world, the Saratios was assigned to explore a sector of space with a concentration of stars that could contain habitable worlds. As part of this expedition Hassar would take command of the FTL capable transport T-86 to investigate a system containing a blue giant star they had designated H-902-S. While such stars were not known to have habitable worlds, several of the planets that they could detect in the system were within the theorized habitable zone around the star. As well as commander, Hassar’s role on the mission, other than commanding it, was to collect specific samples if the planet they found turned out to be habitable. With him was Henar al-Zeko, the pilot; Ahmel al Fanata, the co-pilot; and Imar al-Tazalli, a general scientist trained to investigate worlds for their habitable properties.
H-902-S was quite far from where the Saratios was operating, nearly three weeks away at FTL, but this was not unusual and supplies had been put aboard for what was planned to be a two month total journey, during which time they would be generally out of contact. Hassar looked forward to the journey as a way to perhaps take his mind off of things and maybe through extensive periods of meditation could help deal with his depression. In the meantime though, with Adaar gone, Raazod would have to stay with his Grandfather, not that the boy minded too much since the Admiral’s quarters were far larger and there was much more stuff to do on the Agaros than on Saratios.
The three week journey to the system passed with little incident, the transported arriving in H-902-S to immediately find a massive ice giant of brilliant blue with great rings. One of the moons of this planet they even noted had an atmosphere though spectral analysis showed that it was made up of mostly nitrogen but there was also a large abundance of water detected on the surface as well, but as the moon did not qualify as habitable they didn’t investigate only noting it as a possible water source. The primary focus of their search was the third planet in the system, it was in the habitable zone that was calculated for this particular kind of star and as they approached it seemed quite promising. But before a thorough investigation could be started as the spacecraft arrived in orbit there was a catastrophic failure of the main reactor on board. The failure meant that the spacecraft was rapidly losing power and so the crew elected to make a forced landing on the planet below, still not fully aware of the conditions on the surface.
After entering the atmosphere the crew attempted to make a landing on what appeared to be a open field along a river, but with power failing and apparent damage to the control systems the landing was not smooth. Further, the “field” was not a field but rather a marsh of some kind, which this most likely was what prevented the crash from being worse. It did cause the spacecraft to tumble and vear off towards trees on the shore, coming to a stop invert and partially underwater. Hassar managed to escape the craft with a broken arm Ahmel had no major injuries apart from a deep cut across his face. Unfortunately Henar and Imar did not survive, most likely being killed on impact or in the subsequent tumble.
To both the survivors' shock, the planet that they had crashed on was not only habitable but seemed almost perfect for the Vaharrans to call home. The irony however, was that they couldn’t actually tell them about it with the spacecraft having crashed and the subspace radio badly damaged in that crash. Further, in their hyper focussed state of trying to land the transport they had forgotten to send a distress call. But they had no time to dwell on their mistakes, after dealing with their wounds the first priority of the survivors was recovering the supplies from the spacecraft, they did not know if they could eat or drink anything in the world yet, then recover their fallen comrades bodies to be properly buried. The recovery of the supplies was hampered by the orientation of the spacecraft, but luckily a large portion of it and even a battle rifle were still intact. Henar and Imar were also removed and their bodies burned per Vaharran tradition, but unlike all the Vaharrans who had passed away in the fleet they could then have their ashes properly buried and marked with stones.
With everything that they could recover from the spacecraft recovered the survivors settled in for what would be a long stay. They made camp in the trees near the river. Exploration of the area revealed that they were near a delta and that beyond the fertile shores of the river the land quickly gave way to arid savannas and desert to the south and towering mountains to the north. Animal life seemed to be abundant, and tests of several plants revealed they were edible and that the water from the river was drinkable after being treated. The next priority was repairing the subspace radio to contact the fleet. This took a great deal of effort, Hassar was not particularly savvy with electronics so was not much use beyond cleaning components, and with the space craft’s computer destroyed Ahmel had to manually calculate the subspace frequency and power without immediately draining the batteries they had recovered. They also had to work quickly, it would take weeks for the signal to reach the fleet but then the fleet would have to spend several weeks just to reach them; thus if they managed to get a signal out as soon as possible they were still looking at possibly two months before they were rescued. After several failed attempts a week after crashing the survivors managed to activate the subspace radio and set it to send out a repeating distress call, making sure to include the important bit that the planet was habitable.
On Stardate 43026.98 (May 14, 2365) the Excelsior Class, USS Yamashiro was exploring uncharted space in the Canopus sector when they picked up a weak subspace signal originating from the system of Omega Carinae, a previously thought uninhabited system. Analyzing the signal revealed that it was in an alien language that was not in Starfleet’s database and further the message contained in the signal appeared to be repeating leading the crew to believe it was some sort of distress call.This was confirmed after the signal was translated by the Universal Translator. The commander of the ship, Captain John Hawkins, ordered the Yamashiro to make for the Omega Carinae system at best possible speed. They arrived over an M Class world and determined the signal was originating from a site on the north continent. Scans of the area revealed a crashed vessel with indications of it being warp capable as well as two lifesigns. Tuning into the frequency of the subspace signal Captain Hawkins sent a message to the aliens below in hopes it would perhaps ease any tensions before beaming down to make a proper first contact.
Hassar and Ahmel were initially confused by the message, both wondering if perhaps they had gone crazy or ate some kind of poisonous plant, without full access to the Vaharran language the message came through as stilted and simplistic, further the accent was nothing they had ever heard before. As the message continued the two finally realized what was happening and cautiously responded. He and Hawkins exchanged some words and agreed to allow what they now knew was something called Starfleet to come down and meet them in person. Hawkins led the away team down to the surface near the vicinity of the crash site, not wishing to surprise the Vaharrans more than they already had. The meeting was initially tense with the two Vaharrans, having never seen another alien before, but through the skilled diplomacy of Captain Hawkins he was able to get them to trust him. After some persuasion, Hawkins was able to convince Hassar and Ahmel to beam up to his ship, the Captain mindful of their inferior technological status kept them away from sensitive areas of the ship. After a shower and a change of clothes the two survivors told the Starfleet officers who they were and of the Vaharrans' plight. Hawkins agreed to help and immediately set a course for where Hassar told him the fleet most likely was.
Arriving in a matter of days another brief standoff ensued, the fleet scattering in a panic and the military vessels, having never expected any kind of hostile encounter rather lumbering to get into any kind of defensive position. Before things turned hot, Hassar was able to get in contact with the Admiral and the Pykaar and inform them of what was happening and that they had met some new friends but more importantly had found a new home. Hawkins met with the Pykaar and other Vaharrans leaders for a feast before departing; he informed Starfleet of the situation and that they should send humanitarian aid right away.
A New Home (2365-2371)
Hassar spent a couple weeks recovering from his broken arm, but was more than happy to report everything he had learned about the planet to his superiors. When the fleet finally arrived in orbit of the planet they immediately named it Aros or the ancient poetic word for “new”. The journey had lasted 292 years with over 2,273 light years traveled. The remaining 90,000 survivors were relieved to finally put the hardship and uncertainty of the seemingly endless journey behind them and were eager to get down to the planet’s surface, explore, and rebuild their civilization. Getting everyone down to the surface would take time however, a suitable area for a city needed to be found, shelters built, logistics systems setup, initial crops planted, transportation arranged, and a general overall plan to ensure everything went off without a hitch and as efficiently as possible.
Once he was recovered enough to return to duty, Hassar received the newly created award of Champion of Aros, derived from the Tyrosan award and one of the highest honors of the government, and was promoted to Lieutenant (1st Rank) and assigned to assist in what was termed Shelter Logistics. This entailed making sure that in addition to setting up the shelters themselves, Hassar would assist placing people within them and making sure that the shelters met the needs of the inhabitants. Pre-fab colony shelters would take a few weeks to get prepped but there were plenty of military tents available. The site chosen for what would eventually become the city of Zahkeed, was on the river delta downriver from where Hassar had crashed as the soil there was considered the most fertile. For Hassar this time was quite busy but for once it seemed like things were being accomplished it wasn’t just going through the motions performing the task that he and dozens of others before him had been doing for nearly three centuries. He got to witness the rebuilding of the Vaharran civilization from the ground up.
Once his own shelter had been built, a humble tent but with a full kitchen and even rooms made from cloth walls, he and Raazod were able to live on the planet permanently while he continued his assignment. A few weeks after the first few blocks of tents were set up, Starfleet returned with medicines, food, and other badly needed supplies for the Vaharrans. The Starfleet personnel had even brought along equipment that would help ensure the first crops the Vaharrans planted would be fruitful. Raazod was instantly fascinated by these aliens, though many Vaharrans were including Hassar, and would always ask his father to take him to see the Starfleet “magic” as he called it whenever they beamed down or up to their ships. Over the next few years with the help of Starfleet and the Federation the Vaharran people made themselves known to their neighbors so that they could establish diplomatic relations and begin trade. By 2370 the Vaharrans had even established an entirely new government called the Arosan Republic with a new constitution.
While the initial rush of people moving down to the planet only lasted a few months there was still plenty of work to be done for Hassar in the coming years, as the tent city gave way to pre-fab shelters and then slowly the first permanent buildings were built. Also as he settled into a routine of a proper job, Hassar was able to explore his hobbies and the planet itself, going on long hikes, swims, and even rock climbing.
Starfleet Officer Exchange (2371-2372)
After moving into his own home, an apartment that overlooked the sea, Hassar’s assignment was considered complete and he requested a year long leave of absence to have his own chance to rest and enjoy a bit more of his new home but also to perhaps ruminate on his future. At forty-three he was still quite young, for a Vaharran, and beyond just finding other ways to help the new colony the realities of first contact meant that there was a whole galaxy of opportunity waiting. In the meantime though he decided he would spend a lot of his time bonding with Raazod. While he was not a negligent parent, his duties did keep him away from home for long periods, but with Raazod only ten years away from being an adult and most likely, based on how much he talked about it, would leave to join Starfleet if he could.
Speaking of Starfleet, the organization had gotten closer to the Vaharrans and the Arosan Republic Navy over the previous years. The Federation was eager that the species one day become a member of the Federation, not only were the Vaharrans culturally rich and quite amenable to the ideals of the Federation, but strategically would be vital for continued exploration of the sector and the shipbuilding industry on nearby Canopus. They were of course quite aware of the Vaharrans' long journey, and concerned that due to the small size of their population could suffer a loss of culture if they were fully absorbed into a multitude of others. In the meantime though they wished to work with the Arosan Navy in the sector to perhaps inspire it to a course of exploration such as themselves rather than pure weapons of wars. As such they extended an offer for the Arosan Navy to take part in the Starfleet Officer Exchange Program which was accepted by the Arosan government. Hassar’s father, considering retirement from his role as Admiral now that it was once again simply a military leadership position once again, suggested that he be one of the officers to take part. The opportunity to learn from a more technologically advanced culture was a big one but also as Hassar was one of the first to meet Starfleet it would add a sort of familiarity and allow him to be a paragon of their people. Hassar accepted this offer when he was made aware that Starfleet allowed families on their ships at the time and thus could bring his son.
Hassar and Raazod, along with three other officers and enlisted personnel, traveled to Canopus to join the Galaxy Class, USS Syracuse. The experience was certainly otherworldly upon arrival, the level of technology and also comfort was unheard of on a Vaharran ship, and the ability to teleport, create food from nothing, and heal wounds in a matter of minutes seemed almost like magic. While taking part in the exchange, Hassar would serve as the Acting Chief of Security on account of his background while also rotating through several other departments on board to get an idea of what each aspect of Starfleet was like. Raazod would remain on board and participate in the activities that were available for children on board as well as attend school. The ship’s counselor, La Nguyen, also served as a teacher and was well aware of the special care she would have to take with Raazod who not only was behind compared to the Federation students, not because he unintelligent but because Vaharran students did not learn advanced topics until they were several years older; but also she did not wish to deprive him of his Vaharran specific education and obtained a copy of their curriculum and required books so he was not behind in comparison to his peers when he return home.
The time on board was quite enlightening for Hassar and gave him a great understanding on how Starfleet went about exploration and how it treated space as some endless form of curiosity while the Vaharrans had viewed it as a danger that must be navigated with care. Even the fact that the Syracuse had large windows to gaze upon the stars was a novelty where on a Vaharran vessel, especially a military one, windows were seen as a dangerous weakness in the hull. And in true Starfleet fashion Hassar was witness to many strange phenomena like the encounter with a strange time-looping singularity, or the time they encountered Romulans who had somehow managed to prematurely age themselves. Along with the regular Starfleet duties, Hassar also learned how to play the piano with the assistance of one of his crewmates who he in turn showed how to play the Vaharran akadi; it was also while serving on the Syracuse that he discovered a love of swimming, something not available while living in The Fleet for reasons of water rationing.
By the time he had returned home almost a year later, Hassar had quite the insight and appreciation of Starfleet while Raazod had made it quite clear that he would one day be “the first Vaharran to go to Starfleet Academy”.
The Dominion War (2372-2376)
Upon his return home, Hassar was assigned to be an instructor at the newly formed Marine Officer Training School as part of the wider program of transforming the Arosan Marines back into an elite fighting force rather than their role as security during the Fleet Years. Having spent time with Starfleet and gotten a better idea of the threats that the Vaharran people could face, Hassar was a valuable member of the staff and helped devise new techniques in adapting previous Vaharran combat tactics into more flexible modern ones. This also allowed Hassar the luxury of a stable schedule.
But after barely a year and a half, Hassar was called up once again to serve the Arosan’s interests with the Federation and Starfleet. In the last days of 2373, The Dominion, a great power that originated from the Gamma Quadrant, attacked the Starfleet outpost of Deep Space 9 in an attempt to prevent Starfleet from mining the entrance of the Bajoran wormhole that connected the Alpha and Gamma Quarants, thus starting what would be known as the Dominion War. As part of this Starfleet sent an invite to the Arosan government that they could send several observers to see Starfleet in action as well as help improve diplomatic relations between the two powers as membership was in the works though it was not planned to be offered for another ten to twenty years. They also made a formal request to trade for the duranium that the Vaharrans mined from the moon of Zar. Hassar’s role was strictly that of a non-combatant and he was unlikely to see any direct action, but as stated before it was an opportunity to build the friendship with the Federation. As such he was promoted to Commander (3rd Rank) to give himself a bit more legitimacy when talking to diplomats, though luckily he had Ambassador Alsain al-Indanii to do most of the talking.
After a delay of a few months to get all the details worked out, and possibly because Starfleet was on the back foot during this period, Hassar and the other observers left aboard a Federation ship bound for Earth. Here they were treated to mostly tours of non-sensitive facilities like Starfleet Academy and Starfleet Command, further they were shown other sights around Earh, the Grand Canyon, the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids, and so on. They would also be invited to various diplomatic functions to meet members of the Federation Council and ambassadors from other worlds. It wasn’t until the end of 2374 when Hassar granted his request to go closer to the frontlines. He originally wanted to visit Deep Space 9 as it seemed to be the primary hub of war operations since it was recaptured earlier in the year, he also was curious to explore aspects of the Bajoran religion and meet who they called their Emissary, not to convert but to satisfy his own curiosity on the spirituality of other species. But this would not be, an incident on the station that left a senior officer dead made Starfleet weary of sending the Vaharrans to that area for the time being. Instead, Hassar was sent to observe the final operations on Minos Korva as part of the concerted effort of the 2nd Fleet to retake Betazed.
The space combat over Minos Korva had long since been wrapped up, the Dominion having moved their ships to Betazed itself to repel the repeated attempts by the 2nd Fleet to recapture it. Much of what was left on Minos Korva was ground combat, specifically dislodging the final pocket of Cardassian resistance, as such the primary force on the ground were Klingons led by General Kotak of House Kor. Hassar found that he got along quite well with General Kotak and his staff, the General himself was not unfamiliar to Hassar, he had been the proposed head of the Klingon Technological Mission that would help upgrade the ships of the Arosan Navy as well as begin preliminary designs to eventually replace them with Klingon made ships. Further the Klingons had felt a special kinship to the Vaharrans since their first introduction owing to the similar appearance. Some Klingons even believed that the Vaharrans were some ancient ancestors who may have been abducted from Qo’nos thousands of years ago; but what little Vaharran evolutionary data that had survived the destruction of the Old World did show that they had in fact fully evolved on that planet. Still, it helped foster surprisingly good relations with the Klingon Empire.
After witnessing the surrender of Minos Korva in early 2375, Hassar returned to Earth for a brief period then was invited to Qo’nos by General Kotak to witness the signing of the first formal treaty between the Arosan Republic and the Klingon Empire. While there he took the time to appreciate Klingon culture and was allowed to visit several of their shipyards as a demonstration of their shipbuilding capabilities. He was poised to return to Earth when word came that the war was over. Relieved, Hassar returned home to compile his report and submit it to the High Council for review. To Hassar though, the entire ordeal was not as beneficial as he had hoped, spending much of his time taking tours and participating in diplomatic functions rather than observing any of the battles directly as he had originally envisioned, but it had at least proved positive for boosting relations with the Federation and the Klingons.
Settling Down (2376-2381)
After a brief period of leave, Hassar returned to the Marine Officer Training School, now as the Chief Instructor. Over the next few years he settled into a quiet routine, finally able to enjoy the fruits of the previous decade of hard work he had put into helping his people rebuild their civilization. He spent more time decorating his home, pursued his hobbies, and even got back into dating here and there; anything to have the normal life that had been denied to him up until this point. He also wanted to spend a bit more time with Raazod while he was a teenager, well aware that he would be leaving for Starfleet Academy as soon as he could after becoming an adult.
Things were not idle with the Arosan Republic however, near the end of 2376 the Federation suddenly reached out with an offer of membership to the Vaharrans along with a generous offer of highly advanced Federation technology, a jointly manned Starfleety and Arosan Navy Starbase, and special constitutional assistance to ensure that the Vaharran culture and laws were respected; all this before the membership would be considered fully ratified. In exchange the Federation requested access to the moon of Zar and asteroids in the system to immediately mine duranium and dilithium to help rebuild their fleet following the war. Having always had good and honest relations with Starfleet since first contact, Hassar’s father, recently elected as Pykaar, agreed to the terms after a unanimous vote of approval from the High Council. Within months the Federation had established multiple large and highly complex mining operations throughout the system which they refused to allow the Arosans to inspect on the grounds of “safety”. It soon became apparent that the Federation was not going to honor their end of the bargain and all complaints and requests seemed to fall on deaf ears or were hand waved away with the excuse of legal issues or supply troubles. Any thought of filing a formal complaint was prevented because of the worry that the Federation might withdraw all support, including what they had been providing in terms of food, medicine, and construction materials since Aros was first being colonized. Further there was an opinion among the populace that complaining further would be seen as ungrateful and that had it not been for Starfleet the Vaharrans might still be roaming space or worse.
For Hassar these issues remained in the background, he was not a politician or really a diplomat he could only vote on whatever issues the High Council brought before the people. In many ways it seemed like the Klingons were becoming closer friends than the Federation as many involved in the process of rebuilding the Arosan Navy could be found throughout the city of Zahkeed where there had normally been more Starfleet personnel. Among these Klingons was one of the members of General Kotak’s staff whom Hassar had developed a real friendship with by the name of Rortal of House Qonjal. Though both wished it could go further than friendship the odds were it could not as Rortal was likely to lead his house in the next few years. Things would however spiral out of control that the Vaharrans could no longer sit idly by as the quadrant seemed to be collapsing into chaos.
USS Theurgy (2381-Present)
In January of 2381 things came to a head when the Arosan ship, the Ibn Lau, with over a hundred Vaharrans, including Raazod who was bound for Starfleet Academy, was attacked en route by an unknown vessel. They were able to get off a brief distress signal which was picked up by the Arosan Navy who were too far away to help and so pleaded that Starfleet send a ship to assist. A Starfleet vessel went to the Ibn Lau’s aid but upon arriving at the scene found the ship abandoned with all the passengers and crew missing. When the Arosan government requested that Starfleet use their resources to track down their missing people, Starfleet vehemently refused citing several reasons such as the ship was too close to the Romulan border, that the ship may have been attacked by Orion slavers and it would be impossible to find them, and finally that one of their ships, the USS Theurgy, had mutinied a few months earlier and was causing havoc and death throughout the Federation. They even asserted that the Theurgy might have been the ones that kidnapped the crew for some devious purpose or scientific experiments.
Personality Profile
Hassar was a man who had a keen sense of duty to his people, while he would have preferred a more humble existence, such as that of a farmer or fisherman so that he could practice his spirituality in peace, the fragile nature of the sheer existence of the Vaharran species made him want to do his part. His sense of duty also led to a real sense of professionalism when on duty, taking his job with the utmost seriousness as any failures or mistakes could lead to the deaths of his comrades or the extinction of his species.He valued discipline and attention to detail from those under his command but could sometimes lack these traits due to his own stubbornness and occasional bouts of emotion. While stubborn, Hassar is professional enough to defer to someone who may be more experienced or have a better understanding of the task at hand than he does.
When not attending to his duties Hassar was quite jovial though somewhat soft spoken and always had a smile on his face or was willing to crack some rather dry jokes with the people around him. To help keep his spirits lifted and relieve stress he was highly devoted to the Vahrran spiritual religion of Kyros and was diligent about completing specified rituals or meditating. While he had always been devout, his later devotion came about after the death of his husband as a way to cope with the loss and perhaps be closer to him in spirit as the Vaharrans believed in an afterlife in the Spirit World for those who had led a balanced life. His own spirituality also instilled in him since first contact a curiosity of the religions of other species and cultures to perhaps understand those aliens better through how they view life, death, and the soul. A particular draw was that of the Bajoran religion as not only was the existence of the aliens that they called the Profits confirmed but they also possessed artifacts of those aliens as well as lifted a man not of their world to the position of what they called emissary. But even with these confirmations of reality it did not shake the faith nor did it affect the other aspects of the Bajoran religion such as their religious rites or culture. This curiosity of other cultures also lead to a curiosity of aliens in general, especially the Klingons, granted that was because he found them attractive, but he also found their warrior culture intriguing as well as their concept of honor almost as another form of spirituality.
While his adherence to his duty, his spirituality, and his family, took up a great amount of his time, Hassar also had plenty of hobbies to enjoy in his free time. Though it should be noted that among the Vaharrans the act of taking part and doing hobbies that bring one joy was considered a way of positively balancing one’s aspects as part of the religion of Kyros. Among these hobbies was a particular fondness for books, Hassar was a voracious reader, his favorite, like most Vaharrans was, Ko’s Bargain; but since first contact a whole new world of books opened up to him. In addition Hassar also had a fondness for music and was a decent player of the Vaharran Akadi, an instrument that was strikingly similar to the Earth Erhu; further while he was taking part in the Officer Exchange Program he picked up playing the piano and upon returning home was able to have one shipped from Earth to Aros so he could continue learning how to play and became quite adept. Hassar also liked to stay in shape, originally while living in The Fleet this was simply through lifting weights and simple gym exercises, but upon moving down to Aros he also took up swimming in sea near his home, rock climbing in the mountains to the north of the capitol, and hiking the savannas and deserts to the south. And finally he also enjoys sharpshooting. While being a crack shot was a requirement in general as a Marine, he liked to take this a step further and found the entire experience of sharpshooting to be meditative.
When it came to relationships, Hassar, like most Vaharrans, were highly devoted to their families, made friends for life, and would do anything for their lovers. More recently he has gotten back into the dating pool but has not found anything serious yet, but was of course open to something serious. In fact he was even open to dating the males of other species, but he was also curious about females as well.
Physical Profile
Hassar was typical of a Vaharran, tall, 2 meters (6 ft 7 in) in height, very muscular weighing 122 kilograms (269 lbs). His thick skin was a dark brownish-green and his alert and somewhat intense eyes were an earthy green, and his hair was black. He possessed the unusual pronounced cranial ridges of a Vaharran and pointed ears that were a little larger than average. He had some body hair, notably on his chest, abs, limbs and pubic areas as well as his beard which he kept neatly trimmed with the mustache shaved as he found it made him more attractive.
When on duty, Hassar wore his uniform smartly and with pride, further he expected those under his command to maintain similar levels of proper dress. He also expected the same level of care be taken from his Marines in regards to their tactical gear as failure of an improperly maintained piece of equipment could be deadly to a Marine and possibly lead to a failure of the mission. Off duty he liked to wear clothing typical of Vaharrans, loose baggy pants and sleeveless tunics that allowed for a great freedom of movement as well as comfort in the arid environment of their home world. To embellish his clothing Hassar liked to wear sashes of fine embroidered cloth held in place with a silver buckle that had been passed down through his family for several centuries. Whil Vaharrans did not wear shoes, particularly in other people’s homes, Hassar did have on hand, in addition to his uniform boots, several pairs of simple slippers and slip-on work boots. For meditation or working out Hassar would typically go naked but if privacy could not be assured he wore a traditional Vaharran garment called an onoka, a simple undergarment made of linen.
A big part of Vaharran culture was the use of body paints either as a form of enhancement to one’s appearance to appear more attractive, highly detailed body paints were typically associated with a Vaharran who was available; or in Kyrosan rituals and mediation. Hassar was a frequent user of body paints for his meditations, specific designs were painted on the body to denote the three Aspects. He also like most Vaharrans, used it to enhance his appearance and even had a special design that denoted that he was a Arosan Marine that had the appearance of armor.
Special Notes)
-Due to the masculine emphasis of the words Vaharrans used as their pronouns: vah, veh, vahd, the universal translator translated these pronouns into the standard male pronouns: he, him, his, for its users. However users could opt for the Vaharran pronouns if they wished.
-As a Vaharran, Hassar was a male presenting hermaphrodite which means he possessed both male and female genitalia.
-While sexually Hassar preferred other Vaharrans and the males of other species, he was also curious about the females of other species.