Lieutenant Commander Akaria Okan
Name Akaria Okan
Position Chief Science Officer
Rank Lieutenant Commander
Biographical Information
| Gender | Female | |
| Species | Cardassian | |
| Affiliation | Starfleet | |
| Birth Location | Terok Nor |
Physical Appearance
| Height | 5'7" | |
| Weight | 122lbs | |
| Hair Color | Dark Brown | |
| Eye Color | Brown | |
| Physical Description | Of average height for a member of her species, Akaria Okan has a number of characteristics and physical attributes that set her aside from other humanoid species. As a Cardassian, her most recognizable features are her light-gray skin, two thick, vertical neck ridges that recede back to the crown of her head, and an inverted tear-shaped ridge in the center of her forehead. Perhaps the thickest ridge is that which sits immediately above the eyes, protecting them and creating an especially deep-set appearance. Like most Cardassian females, the tear-shaped ridge in the center of her forehead has a blue coloration. Unbeknown to most, this coloration is not natural and is in fact a form of cosmetic make-up, similar to henna ink make-up and markings. Like most in her species, Akaria’s dark brown hair is kept in pristine condition and in a way that frames her face perfectly. Physically fit and active, Akaria has a slight, hourglass like figure which is usually hidden beneath the unflattering Starfleet uniform she has been wearing in recent times. |
Family Data
| Parent(s) | Father: Joranza Okan Mother: Mekela Prel | |
| Marital Status | Single |
Personality Profile
| General Overview | Strong willed and incredibly feisty, Akaria suffers from the same overconfidence and sizeable ego issues that are common among her people. Despite her shortcomings, she has a number of more likeable traits that have made her assimilation into Starfleet life much easier. She lacks the xenophobic, ruthlessness of her kind and, instead, is eager to work with others from around the galaxy, approaching all with an open mind. Coming from a large, multigenerational family, Akaria is very protective of her friends and colleagues. Behind her strong exterior she is the kindest, most caring person and fiercely loyal to her all, but she is definitely not one to be trifled with. | |
| Strengths & Weaknesses | As with her most of her species, Akaria is envied by many because of her photographic memory, which greatly helps with her research and practical work. Reliable, trustworthy and incredibly punctual, Okan is an asset to any team, with her Cardassian penchant for record keeping often earning her plaudits among other, less organised individuals. In terms of weaknesses, Akaria can come across as somewhat arrogant with a significant ego and this sometimes gives the false impression that she is unapproachable. When she lets someone in, she has a fragility that very few are allowed to see. Whilst she has a fabulous understanding of the sciences, and to a certain extent engineering and medicine, she lacks any real working knowledge or interest in other fields such as weapons, tactics, diplomacy or command skills, often causing her to be overlooked as away mission leader or even for bridge command, despite passing the bridge officers exams shortly after enlisting in Starfleet. | |
| Ambitions & Goals | Whilst her original field of study has been significantly hampered by the ban on synthetic lifeforms, Akaria continues to work with her colleagues from the Daystrom Institute to try and prove that synthetic lifeforms can be safely constructed once more. | |
| Hobbies & Interests | As with most Cardassian’s, Akaria loves conversation and debate, once spending nine hours debating with a Tellarite about the logic behind the Federation’s continued expansion despite significant threats to their position; she left the Tellarite a blubbering mess. A scientist of great influence around the Union, her interests have changed in recent times due to the enforced ban on the study of and creation of synthetic lifeforms. Like all good scientists though, she has used her curiosity about the galaxy to develop and expand an interest in other fields and spends much of her time in stellar cartography labs studying stellar phenomena. Akaria is an avid reader and can often be found relaxing, alone, in the mess facility of her posting with a good book to read. Whilst she sits alone when reading, she doesn’t like silence and the mess facility provides adequate background noise. Unusually for a scientist, she doesn’t particularly like holodecks and tends to stay away from them, much preferring to be in the real world. | |
| Languages | Cardassian, Federation Standard English, Bajoran |
Personal Relationships
Personal History
| Personal History | Born aboard the Cardassian station Terok Nor some 9 years before the end of the Cardassian occupation of Bajor, Akaria was born to parents who had been working for the Cardassian government on a number of scientific projects until they returned to Cardassia Prime in 2362. By the time of the occupations end in 2369, the young Akaria was oblivious to her people’s brutal treatment of the Bajoran people. She spent much of her youth surrounded by friends and colleagues of her parents, most of whom worked at the prestigious Cardassian Science Ministry, which resulted in her developing a great interest in the sciences. By the time she was 13, Cardassian society had significantly changed; gone were the days when their species had been revered for their education and scientific practices – instead, they were pilloried and regarded with great suspicion by all who encountered them. Ultimately, that distrust proved to be well founded when the Cardassian Union officially joined the Dominion, sparking an intergalactic war that raged for a few years and cost the lives of billions of Cardassians. Just a matter of months before the Cardassian’s joined the Dominion, the Okan family fled Cardassia and found refuge in the Federation. Joranza had heard rumblings regarding possible deals with other species and could sense that disaster would come to his people, thus making the decision to seek refuge elsewhere. Making use of his contacts within the science community, Joranza and his family arrived on Galor IV, where they were welcomed with open arms. Joranza put his expertise as a cyberneticist at the planet’s Daystrom Institute Annex. |
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| Education | Residing on Cardassia for most of her life, Akaria was educated as part of the once vaunted Cardassian education system whilst receiving tutelage from members of the Cardassian Science Ministry, becoming exposed to a number of projects including the first design of a Cardassian Emergency Hologram, something akin to the Zimmerman programmes. |
Career History
| Career History | By the time of her 18TH birthday in 2378, and with her family seemingly exiled from the Cardassian Union, Akaria had applied to join Starfleet Academy with the backing of Admiral Haftel from the Daystrom Annex. As the first Cardassian to join the Academy, Akaria had expected to encounter some prejudice, especially with the aftermath of the war so fresh in the memory, but instead, many pitied her species for being lulled in by the lies of the Dominion and their subsequent fate at the hands of their Dominion ‘allies’. This actually riled the young Cadet, encouraging her to show the Cardassia of old, a people who were renowned for their academic and scientific abilities. During her training, Akaria showed great aptitude in a number of scientific fields, but it was her interest in cybernetics (inspired by her father) that helped her forge a path into the unforgiving realm of artificial intelligence. When she graduated in 2382, the Cardassian qualified near the top of her class and, as such, had a choice of almost any assignment available to her. She had no desire to be out among the stars, exploring the universe, instead opting to join the very same institute that her father had brought her to nearly a decade earlier. Working as an intern of sorts at the Daystrom Institute at Okinawa, Akaria developed quite the reputation when working in the Division of Advanced Synthetic Research. Working alongside renowned scientist Doctor Bruce Maddox, Akaria was part of the team that successfully created the A500 andorids that quickly found use on many facilities around the Federation. Although these artificial lifeforms were far more primitive than Lieutenant Commander Data, who was considered the pinnacle of achievement in the field, the A500’s were a massive success. As a result of her work, Akaria was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade and, with her colleagues, began work on developing an even newer synth unit, until disaster struck in 2385. On First Contact Day, a skeleton crew remained to work at the Utopia Planitia Ship Yards to oversee construction of the rescue armada designed to assist the Romulans prior to the destruction of the Hobus star. But, during the Federation-wide holiday celebrations, multiple A500s at Utopia Planitia suddenly went rogue. They lowered the deflector shields protecting the shipyards and the planet itself, and hacked the Martian defense net. Numerous synth ships began targeting the rescue armada, the Utopia Planitia Ship Yards, the Mars Orbital Facility, and other Martian facilities. The satellite network surrounding Mars was turned against the surface. The synths then began bombarding the surface, igniting flammable vapors in the stratosphere and causing massive damage to the planet's infrastructure. The synth attack was a hammer blow to everyone at the Daystrom Institute, with an immediate investigation beginning into how their creations could have gone rogue, but when it could not be determined how or why the synths went rogue, the Federation Council placed a ban on the creation of synthetic lifeforms. Androids such as B-4, who was being carefully studied at the time, were dismantled, and the Daystrom Institute was restricted to "theoretical" studies on synthetics. For scientists like Akaria, the ban on synthetic lifeforms, and their association with the killer synths, threatened to destroy their Starfleet careers. Unlike the civilian scientists involved at the institute, the Starfleet officers found themselves swiftly reassigned, and Akaria was no exception. Devastated at how events had transpired, the young Cardassian found herself walking away from her passion, no longer able to deal with the guilt associated with the deaths of so many during the attack. During a six month sabbatical from Starfleet, Akaria returned home to Cardassia for the first time since just before the start of the Dominion War. She returned to a planet that was no longer feeling the effects of conflict. Aided by their new allies in the Federation, her homeworld had been rebuilt and was beginning to flourish. She spent her six months working under the tutelage of some of her father’s former colleagues at the Science Ministry, working to develop a new specialism from one of her other interest; stellar sciences. She had never really harboured any desire to be out among the stars, despite her interest in different stellar phenomenon, but that started to change when she was invited to be part of an expedition aboard the USS Rhode Island in 2386. Travelling into the depths of an area of space known as the Zeta Gelis Cluster, the crew of the Nova-class vessel conducted research and gathered data about a great man aspects of the clusters make up, including the micro-nebulas located throughout the cluster, and the spatial distortions that often rendered systems such as shields and weapons useless. Lieutenant Okan found this new line of work quite fascinating indeed, and perhaps surprisingly, found that she had quite an aptitude for it. Remaining with the ship until 2390, the Cardassian (on her 30th birthday no less) was finally granted a posting of her own as Chief Science Officer aboard the USS Proteus, an Intrepid-class explorer that was travelling around the various unexplored worlds of the Northern Expanse. Despite her growing interest in different fields of the sciences, Akaria always hankered after her old life at the Institute, staying in close contact with former colleagues regarding their studies and offering input wherever she could. With her past behind her, and finally feeling at peace again, Okan was promoted to Lieutenant Commander in 2393, ultimately transferring to her most challenging assignment yet aboard the USS Vesta. |
Chronology
| Service Record | 2378-2382: Starfleet Academy majoring in Artificial Intelligence and Cybernetics 2382-2385: Daystrom Institute of Okinawa, assisting with various projects including the A500 series Androids 2386-2390: USS Rhode Island, Science Officer 2390-2393: USS Proteus, Chief Science Officer 2393-Present: USS Vesta, Chief Science Officer |