Rada Dengar



Full Name: Rada Engley Dengar
Rank: Lieutenant Commander
Position: Chief Engineering Officer
Commission: USS Serendipity
Birth World: Angosia III
Home Planet: Angosia III
Race/Species: Angosian
Sex: Male
Age: 26
Marital Status: Unmarried (Involved)

Physical Description:

Height: 5'8"
Weight: 154
Eyes: Hazel
Hair: Black


Personal History:

Growing Up


Rada was born on Angosia III. His father was one of the soldiers genetically engineered and chemically manipulated by the Angosian authorities and so was confined to the Lunar V penal colony for much of the start of his life. Eventually, after the revolt of 2366, the soldiers were released and his father returned home. However, it wasn’t to last.

In the middle of the night, the five year old Rada got up to find his father with his bags already packed. He said he had to go; that it wasn’t safe for Rada and his mother for him to stay around. Rada pleaded with him, saying he didn’t care and he knew he couldn’t hurt them, but he couldn’t stop his father from leaving.

In the coming years Rada’s mother would come to resent his father, believing that he was a coward for leaving them. She almost succeeded in having Rada hate him too. She did succeed in making the child know that he was a constant reminder of the father that she hated.

Rada was never the most confident child and that stuck with him. In his teen years, to get some experience before going to the Academy, Rada was doing the ‘grunt work’ of building an anti-grav platform. After sufficient testing the designer of the unit decided to try it out himself. He climbed on top and was lifted about a metre off the ground before the unit gave out and he fell to the ground.

He was fine. The landing broke his arm but it was nothing that wasn’t easily treated. Rada however felt so guilty about the accident that when the materials manager walked past and saw his face he concluded it must have somehow been his fault. Dragging him into his office, he shouted at him until he was blue in the face about how he could be so reckless and Rada just stood there and took it.

The accident was later discovered to have been caused by faulty materials which the materials manager had supplied them. The man was so angry because he felt guilty himself. Yet, though Rada’s name was cleared, he swore from that day on that he could never again let his face betray more than he meant it to.

This was more than just some snap decision to better control his countenance. Rada had always been a very guarded and private child; afraid of what people would say if they really knew him deep down. He never felt any strength in himself. Yet it had always been in his nature to try to pretend that he could.

He was inherently indecisive; with a natural flair for finding the possibility of disaster in any course of action. Yet he also tried to project an image that he was in control and confident in his choices. Rada is inherently non-violent, with a psychological lock against it, and will not lash out in the face of provocation. Yet he tried to pretend that he could fight if he was pushed to. So when he learnt that in spite of all his control on his actions that he was still giving himself away, he knew it was time for a far deeper change.

Rada had already practiced excessive self control, even borrowing some teachings from many different cultures including the Vulcans. From that point on though he was determined to step up his efforts. Delving deeper into his studies, he realised he had to control not just his outward appearance but his thoughts as well.

This ability eventually developed into making him an extremely effective liar, which allowed him to be far better at pretending and to gain almost a sense of confidence in his deceptions. He is even capable of suppressing his thoughts from all but the most skilled of empaths.

Earth

As he grew older, Rada eventually travelled to Earth to attend Starfleet Academy. It was his hope that his time in Starfleet could show him the answer of how it could be possible to maintain his people’s non-violent ways without making them vulnerable to attack. He was not the most social student, nor the one most enthusiastic in immersing himself in Earth’s culture, but he did well in his studies without getting in to too much trouble. It was then when he met Wren.

Looking for a place away from people during the night of a major sporting event, he found his way to a small and poorly maintained tavern in a little known street of San Francisco. Wren quickly revealed herself as a Betazoid and his mental defences went into full force. However when she saved him from a group of sporting hooligans, he let those defences down, just for a moment.

Over the following months they would get to know one another far better, and even to fall in love. Even though they were completely different people; her far more adventurous and spontaneous, they were both very happy together. He learnt to trust her far more than he would have thought possible.

Then one day, she was gone. He was left without any explanation, except for a note that said it was for the best. This took its toll on Rada and his psychological health began to suffer, as the stress exacerbated an underlying condition.

Starfleet

He did graduate from the Academy and begin his career, serving for a time on board the USS Venitar before transferring to the flagship at the time; the USS Independence. Throughout this time his symptoms began to become more pronounced; culminating in hallucination, emotional instability and delusions.

Due to his private nature, he was mostly able to keep these symptoms hidden. He would fight against these delusions and the emotions they brought with them, yet there were times he genuinely didn’t wish to. When he was sick he felt strong. With anger came the knowledge that he could use it, after years of feeling powerless and knowing that if people chose to hurt him he couldn’t fight back.

At the peak, he actually started having visions that he’d committed these brutal acts of violence. He genuinely believed that he’d killed people and there was a part of him that wanted to keep that ability. An eventual outburst where he threatened to kill Zanh Liis, the acting Captain at the time, caused her to remove him from duty.

His psychological issues were found to be the result of chemical imbalance in his brain. They prescribed him a daily medication regimen which, though causing occasional headaches, he has stuck to using since.

Returning to duty, Rada transferred to the engineering department on the USS Serendipity. Then in 2388, Rada once again tracked down Wren. She was living on Earth with her son and he confronted her. He discovered that she had given the child his surname and so he concluded he must be his father.

It was then he discovered that the reason she had left him was because she’d been pregnant with another man's child and had not wanted Rada to know. She knew that he would have insisted on abandoning the Academy to take care of both herself and the child regardless of its paternal parentage.

When Rada did find out about the child he did exactly as Wren expected and declared that he would leave Starfleet. Wren however forced Rada's hand by giving him the two options that he either stay in Starfleet and be allowed contact with both herself and Tam, her child, or he resigned and he could never see either of them again. Rada reluctantly agreed to remain in Starfleet and to maintain contact via subspace communication.

Though never quite understanding how, he managed to advance through the ranks on board the Serendipity to become chief engineer. His path once again crossed with Wren on Betazed, when her brother kidnapped him in an attempt to use his ability to hide his thoughts from Betazoids for smuggling operations.

Rada was able to escape and he took both Wren and Tam with him back to the Serendipity. He was eventually able to convince Wren she should remain on board and they ended up moving in together. He has since taken on a paternal role to Tam and they’ve become a family.

Once again he and Wren were happy together. Then the Serendipity encountered a species known as the Domox. This telepath hating species launched an attack against Wren, causing her to fall into a coma.

Obviously distressed, Rada began his search for some way to protect her. Theorising that the Domox’ weapons utilised a theoretical particle known as a Varion he sought out a way to understand them so as to modify the Serendipity’s shields. As Wren grew weaker he became obsessed, refusing to stop, to sleep or even to leave his office.

He was eventually able to crack the secret, but when he did he was no longer willing just to modify the shields. He turned the particles into a weapon and used them to target the Domox’s sun. He fired the weapon, all the while intending on stopping it before anyone got hurt. Contacting the Domox, he told them he knew how to save their sun before it was too late and all they had to do was stop their attacks. However, the Domox stubbornly refused to even acknowledge his words, and so their evil intent and single-minded hatred became the true cause of their eventual destruction.

Though Wren was saved, it came at a great cost for Rada as his horror of what he’d done caused him to fall into a catatonic state. He was able to be saved by Temporal Investigations resequencing away all his knowledge of the Varion particles, but this too came at a cost. When he awoke he had lost all memory of Wren.

Out of fear for what the breaking down of his resequencing could do, Wren did not try to force him to remember her. However Rada became aware that something was deeply wrong with him. Then the resequencing began showing signs it was breaking down anyway.

Fearing what might happen, Zanh Liis relieved Rada from duty and sent him to Earth where she hoped with Wren’s help he could find the answers he needed. Quite by accident, he and Wren found one another near the tavern where they’d first met. The sparks between them began to light again and his resequencing finally completely broke down. Now Rada once more remembers Wren, as well as what he had to do to save her, and has returned to his position aboard the Serendipity.

Personality

Though he can be angered when frustrated, Rada is ultimately a gentle and quiet man. He’s private and always very careful. He’s not confident although he’s more comfortable since getting back together with Wren than he once was. Only in the company of people he trusts can he let his vulnerabilities be known, and even still there are very few people like that. He will still revert to playing the role of a more confident, even cocky man, when faced with danger.

He’s intelligent and creative, though he doesn’t believe himself to be. He has a logical mind though his fears tend to manifest themselves as he considers all the different perfectly logical ways any situation could end in disaster.

He’s principled, hating violence, and believing it is important to live by his own rules. Though attempting to live up to the ideals Starfleet sets itself, he still believes that he must live up to his own ideals before them. He considers it to be more important what people learn, than who they may start out being.

Ambitions: To find the answer of maintaining a non-violent planet against external threats. To take care of Wren and Tam.

Likes: Rada likes particular (safe, non-biting) animals which he tends to be able to trust significantly quicker than humanoid life forms. He enjoys reading and a mental challenge. He does also value his few friends.

Dislikes: Rada is not a thrill seeker. He dislikes violence, danger and social gatherings (although he will often choose to participate rather than to be seen avoiding them). He is uncomfortable around most telepaths due to fear of them invading his privacy. He is not at all a fan of spicy food.

Weaknesses: Rada’s has an inability to use violence, a vulnerability which has inspired a great deal of fear within him. He also has difficulty trusting people and lacks confidence although he would never show it to most let alone admit it. Whilst Rada is able to interact socially with others, with most people his lack of confidence means that deep down it is forced. He’s also an exceptionally bad gardener.

Strengths: Rada is patient and focused with an ability to concentrate and remain calm under provocation or pressure. He will not give up on a problem, even if he’s convinced that he can’t solve it.

Eccentricities: Rada always keeps a bag of toffees in his pocket in case of emergencies. He tends to eat these toffees whenever he most needs to play a more confident role.

Comments in permanent file:

Rada was temporarily relieved from duty on his previous ship the USS Independence by acting CO Zanh Liis due to psychological reasons roughly a month before being transferred to the USS Serendipity.

He spent a brief period in a psychiatric institution where he was diagnosed with a disorder rarely found in Angosians- known as paranoid regiphrenia which he now treats with a daily dose of neurazipam.

2388: Promoted to the rank of Lieutenant JG and the position of Assistant Chief Engineer aboard the USS Serendipity following his heroic actions during the Alchemy's away mission to survey the unstable star, Beta-626.

Shortly thereafter, he was promoted again and attained the coveted position of Chief Engineering Officer aboard the USS Serendipity.

Comments from CO Zanh Liis of the Serendipity: "In his time aboard the flagship, I found Ensign Dengar to be thorough, talented, and attentive to his duties. I am very pleased to welcome him to our crew, aboard the Serendipity."

-=/\=-


This Writer has earned a 2008 Star Trek: Alchemy Above and Beyond Award For innovation and technological assistance to the Captain, in recognition of his creation of a program to auto-format posts for archiving our work.

This Writer has earned the 2009 Star Trek: Alchemy Above and Beyond Award For innovation and technological assistance to the Captain, in recognition of his creation of a program to auto-format all of our game posts for the web with the touch of a button.



He's Chief Engineer for a reason, people. Thank you, Danger. -=/\=ZL