Mektari Dumral (KIA)

Personnel File
Name:	Mektari Dumral
Rank:	Ensign
Position:	Assistant Chief CONN Officer
Species:	Cardassian
Age:	27
Gender:	Female
Orientation:	Heterosexual
Birthplace:	Cardassia III
Height:	5ft 8in / 1.73m
Weight:	132lbs / 60kg
Hair:	Black
Eye color:	Green
Played by:	Rhona Mitra
Writer:	(NPC)
Interests
Desert-based Holodeck Programs Chess Kotra Kal-toh Cardassian History & Art
Education
2360-2373: Cardassia III School of Advanced Sciences 2376-2380: Starfleet Academy
Service Record
2380-2381: Ensign & CONN Officer, USS Cayuga 2381-2381: Ensign & Acting Chief CONN Officer, USS Cayuga 2381-Present: Ensign & Assistant Chief CONN Officer, USS Theurgy
Decorations
N/A

Ensign Mektari Dumral was a Cardassian who grew up through the Dominion War and was later helped by Starfleet. She chose to join Starfleet for personal reasons and their aid through the years, though her own inability to adapt with others had made her begin to consider leaving Starfleet and head home. She took her first post on the USS Cayuga, at which point her concerns about her career decisions were forgotten as the Borg attacked and the crew did their best to handle an exploration trip that was turned into a nightmare.

As of March 2381, Ensign Dumral was the Acting Chief CONN Officer aboard the USS Cayuga and might later join the crew of the USS Theurgy in it's battles against a corrupted Starfleet Command in the late 24th century.

Biography

Childhood

In 2354, Mektari was the seventh and last of a long line of children born on Cardassia III to her mother and father, Mektari and Gatuk Dumral. Being the only daughter of the children earned her the namesake of her mother, which also meant she soon gained the nickname of Meki to keep the confusion down in the household. Her beginning years were pleasant. Her father steered her as a traditional Cardassian household would. Expecting her to some day bring many children of her own into the world, he lead her to the sciences in the footsteps of her mother. She avidly devoured every course, landing at the top of her class in her younger years, showing a real skill at stellar cartography.

But this time didn’t last long. When the Dominion War began in 2373, their family saw lean times, struggling to keep to a normal routine. The house grew emptier by the day, each of her brothers taking after her father and joining Central Command. Soon there was no one left at home but her mother and her grandparents and each tried their best to ignore the growing numbers of Jem’Hadar that appeared on the daily.

In 2375 the final blow was made and the Cardassians turned on their former allies, turning the tide of the war. The price was high and though they weren’t on the home planet, the effects were felt all the way to Cardassia III. Jem’Hadar slaughtered mercilessly, her family included. Her mother and grandparents stood no chance. It was only from her mother hiding Meki away that she managed to survive without being discovered. There was no telling what would have happened if her father hadn’t beamed into their home to sweep her away, the only family he had left that he could keep from harm. He deserted his post to try and bring them all through it alive, for once putting family before the state. But he would end up with the same unfortunate end of her mother and grandparents. Another attack left him gravely wounded before he escaped with his daughter. In that moment he told her the truth. He wouldn’t live, so she would have to carry his secrets. Laying in the rubble they used for cover, he informed his daughter that he wasn’t part of the Central Command, but was instead a spy for the Obsidian Order. He performed Shri-tal, passing on every name and bit of dirty information he had to his daughter. She absorbed every word, all the way to his last breath.

During her years of schooling she had been trained as many Cardassians to try and drill an eidetic memory into her. She wasn’t particularly talented at having a photographic memory, but something about the traumatic event of watching her father die in her arms made the switch turn on, every part of her wanting to make sure she never forgot a single word.

She was found two days later by Starfleet aid, still clinging to the dead body of her father. Throughout the two days she didn’t sleep, her mind flashing random bits of information as she desperately tried to find a way to cope. In later years these memories would prove to be a gift and a curse. Whether she liked it or not, this knowledge would surface in dreams or, rarely, if she tried to concentrate she could try and find some information she needed. But each time was a devastating tragedy that brought her back to the moment of when her father died, often leaving her in a troubled and weak ended state.

She was traumatized, but not hurt, so she was put on the low priority list for treatment as everyone banded together to try and recover from the massacre that ravaged all of Cardassian space. For two months she spoke to to no one, shuffled from one temporary shelter to the next until she landed in the hands of Councilor Jack Davis. He took the time to slowly coax her back to the living, carefully working with her until she could once again speak. He managed to get the names of her brothers and the ships they were serving on, allowing him to hunt them down.

It turned out they had been hunting her all along. Miraculously four of her brothers lived and when only finding the bodies of their parents and grandparents, they went on a hunt for their young sister. It was almost impossible though, she was just another lost orphan with no name, at least until Davis worked with her. Neither her nor her brothers would forget what Davis and the Federation did for them the day they had their tear filled reunion.

They reunited and moved to Cardassia Prime where most of the scarce population of Cardassians gathered their resources to try to survive. Aid was offered continuously from the Federation and with a great deal of help the family managed to make a home again. A smaller, much quieter home, but a home none the less.

Davis continued to check in on the family over the years, often working close with them as the whole family banded together to join the cause of rebuilding Cardassia. As she became older, Meki started looking into what she was going to do with her life. The act of the Shri-tal started to weigh on her, especially as familiar names of former Obsidian Order members began coming her way. If she were a good Cardassian, she would have used this information to blackmail them. The Obsidian Order was shunned in this new shaky government and to have their former life revealed would be very devastating, but she was sick of the old Cardassia. It had brought oppression, the Dominion and all over despair. She wanted a new Cardassia, one that had enlightened values and believed in a free government. The only problem now was if someone from the Obsidian Order found out that her father had performed Shri-tal with her, her life would be in grave danger. These were not the kind of Cardassians who gave up on power and her worries continued to grow as she watched old Obsidian Order men and women climb into high ranks for government.

During the time where she was helping her people rebuild, she began honing a most needed skill for her planet and one that would give her a path in Starfleet; piloting. She proved to be very apt at running small shuttles for supply deliveries to and from different planets and spent much of her time talking with Councilor Davis about the possibilities of joining Starfleet Academy. If there was a place that could offer a bit more protection against her supposed enemies, it was the Federation.

Her brothers were severely against it. The Cardassian population had dropped so severely that every woman was expected to find a mate and produce children to keep them going, but as she came of age the last devastating blow came. A routine checkup revealed that she was infertile. This was a black mark in Cardassian society before the war, but now? Now it was much worse. Her brothers kept it a secret, but the older she became, the harder it was to find excuses for why she hadn’t found a mate.

Starfleet Academy

She eased the pain for her and her brothers in 2377 when she finally made her decision. At 23 she made for San Francisco to join the Academy, but it didn’t go as smoothly as expected. Only holding a letter of recommendation from the Councilor Davis wasn’t enough to grant admittance to a race recently viewed as one of the Alpha Quadrant’s worst enemies. She tried to convince admirals that she was genuine, but she also kept her own secrets guarded and never told the whole truth. She did want to see a better Cardassia and she wanted to join Starfleet to help bridge the gap between her people and the rest of the Alpha Quadrant, but she also had other reasons she kept to herself.

Until she landed at the office of an Admiral Davis, the father of Councilor Davis. She told him the same story she had told to many, but he told her bluntly that they could feel that she wasn’t telling the whole truth. Until she revealed all of the reasons, they would assume her secrets she kept for some nefarious act she intended to commit and she would never be allowed in. So finally she revealed that last of her story, telling him of her infertility and fear of the left over remnants of the Obsidian Order.

A few days later she was given her letter of recommendation and allowed in the Academy. Her time there was mentally stimulating, but she was quite displeased with all of the physical expectations. Multiple survival courses proved to be a struggle, but she still managed to scrape by. On the other hand, she was among the top of her class in Advanced Navigation, Stellar Cartography and several other flight and science courses, which left her with a tough decision of either being a scientist or pursuing piloting. In the end, she chose pilot since it was a little more of an engaging career in her mind. Cultural shock was also a large problem.

Not being surrounded by her own people as she had for years made her isolate herself, causing her to experience distrust and paranoia around most of her fellow cadets. Her inability to work with her comrades was at the point where by the time she finished in the Academy, she was seriously questioning whether she should just return home and simply face the issues she might have there instead of living among all of these aliens and foreign ideals. In 2380 she graduated, landing her first post on the USS Cayuga. She decided that if she could put her piloting skills to the test and enjoy her position she would stay, but if she was still unhappy she would put in her resignation and return home.

USS Cayuga

Much of her time on the Cayuga was spent as it was in the Academy. She rarely spent time around others, assuming the worst intentions when others tried to get close to her. She also requested late shifts when there would be the least amount of people to interact with. Still, she did her job to the best of her ability. Her reports were always on time, she was often early for shifts and she was plenty skilled at piloting, but still she spent her time in isolation. With little changed, she had already decided to turn in her resignation until disaster struck.

Panic and terror ravaged the crew as the Borg appeared seemingly out of nowhere to take down the Cayuga. Mektari struggled but succeeded at keeping her composure as one crewman after another was assimilated, including the two CONN officers that outranked her on the ship. As they were left adrift in the Azure Nebula, Mektari was given the role of Acting Chief CONN Officer, heading a department of surviving NCO shuttle pilots, a responsibility she wasn’t sure she really wanted to take.

Personality Profile

Mektari was a hard one to read. Always there seemed to be a smile on her face, but just how genuine was it? For those that would get to know her, they would find it extremely genuine. Light hearted and filled with curiosity, it was obvious to anyone that she had a fascination with the unknown waiting to be discovered in the stars.

But she couldn’t stop being who she was; a Cardassian through and through. While she didn’t follow the crude, militaristic style that most of her race was known for, she did seem to have a lot of secrets. Personal questions were always deflected, a strong guard seen as she encased herself in a shell of hospitality. She could charm and pleasantly talk her way in and out of most any situation while still revealing little to nothing about herself. Often times her motive was questioned for just how guarded she was, but for those that worked past her guards and knew her well, she was as kind as she could be.

She had a very hard time trusting or earning other’s trust. She was known for having a solo attitude and while never mean about it, she often tried to talk her way into working by herself. Adhering to all of Starfleet’s rules was also difficult. The many needs for back ups and safeties was frustrating for her, especially since she treated death with a nonchalant attitude. She could often seem heartless when she calculated creatures as nothing more than numbers, never minding throwing a large number of possible deaths into an equation and taking it as a normal risk of life instead of an avoidable situation.

Physical Profile

Mektari was what one would expect of a Cardassian. Pale grey skin accentuated the jet black hair that, when left loose, hung heavy down to the small of her back, but was often tightly wound into a tight bun at the back of her scalp. The alien markings that her species were known for were the most striking features on the smooth, young face of the female. Strong ridges followed her jaw line, fine circles of similar shape encircling her eyes, but of course the most prominent of the features was the upside down teardrop colored a vivid blue that rested upon her forehead. Scales fanned outward along her neck, creating the notable wide ridges that her species were so well known for. As happened with some females of her species, upon the third scale down one could see a bright blue coloration that matched perfectly with tone on her forehead.

She was an average build in all ways. No great musculature showed on her and while some found her very species formidable by look, it was obvious that she wasn’t the first one you would call on to help you in a fight. However, she wasn’t exactly on the wiry side either, simply normal in all respects of general form. When not wearing her uniform, Mektari chose tasteful clothing mostly consisting of dresses, tights, and simple high heels. Varying colors made up her ensemble of casual clothing, but she often stuck to vivid chocolates and brown coloration that she always felt accented her skin.

Physically she had a very difficult time with the cold. All starships and bases felt chilly, but it became dangerous and even life threatening if she ever had to venture through an ice planet.

Special Notes

Her father gifted/cursed Mektari with Obsidian Order information before he passed. The intensity of the moment triggered her eidetic memory, allowing her to absorb it all, but she wasn’t trained thoroughly like most Cardassians are. She couldn’t recall the information at a whim like some, but instead had to access it through dreams. This often lead to nightmares or daydreaming that could occur at inopportune times, but the knowledge passed was a lifteime’s worth and while shaken at the rememberance episodes, she could sometimes leave with a wealth of useful knowledge.