Xal Ra-Movraii

Xal Ra-Movraii had a typical Efrosian upbringing on his people’s homeworld, a firm member of the Federation. However, he was a rebellious and wild child, preferring to skip on his studies to go drinking, seeking out women and flying fast shuttles. On more than a few occasions, he risked criminal convictions from a young age, although his father always managed to bail or sweet talk him out of any true trouble. It was only when he met his future wife, whilst still in his late teens, that he found some inner peace.

The two married at the tender age of seventeen and had their first child soon after, a daughter whom Xal was entirely besotted with and devoted to. Upon his eighteenth birthday, seeking to provide a better life and environment for his young family, Xal sought to straighten up his act by enlisting with Starfleet, initially serving in an engineering corps posted to the outer fringes of Federation space, near the Cardassian border. Due to his deployment and their desire to break out on their own, the young Efrosian family settled on Setlik III whilst Ra-Movraii was deployed to nearby settlements, ships and installations.

Tragedy struck in 2347. Not long after Ra-Movraii’s wife had informed him that she was pregnant with their son and he was promoted to petty officer, he received news that Setlik III had been attacked by Cardassian forces in what would become known as the “Setlik III Massacre”. It tore young Xal apart, and he was part of the initial push-back by the USS Rutledge, transferring into the security department as a gunner’s mate. Through his rage and grief, he quickly became one of the foremost and talented soldiers serving on the frontlines of the nascent Federation-Cardassian War, although his first deployment to the remnants of Setlik III is the main thing he can truly remember (including searching the ruins of his home for his wife), claiming the rest is much of a haze.

Despite the attempts of numerous counsellors and Starfleet psychologists to aid with his grief and barely-concealed depression, Xal remained on active duty and fought bravely during numerous engagements against the Cardassian Union, both in space and on the ground. He earned numerous commendations, from commanding officers and settlements that he aided, earning him a fierce reputation and adulation from his fellow soldiers during that time. Showing clear resolve and courage, he was nominated as the squad leader during several ground-based skirmishes, leading his team through numerous operations, both on the front- and behind enemy lines.

Developing a deep-set hatred for the Cardassians, which was often difficult to reconcile with the Starfleet principles meant to be guiding him, Xal was often accused of going too far in his efforts to defeat them, seemingly taking pleasure in overriding their lines and destroying their vessels. It was only in later life that he kerbed these feelings. Whilst he would never like Cardassians, he appreciated the error of his pre-judgements. During the heat of conflict, however, that was harder to overlook.

Eventually, he was promoted and assigned to the Zhukov, another vessel fighting in the conflict against the Union. A less battle-orientated vessel, the Zhukov focused more on providing aid to beleaguered worlds and ferrying colonists to safety. This was a period of greater reflection for Xal, who felt they were truly helping individual people, as opposed to just fighting a war. For ten years, he served ably on the vessel, still heading up tactical operations during the prolonged conflict, and earning himself more commendations. When he was promoted once more, and given more responsibilities for training the younger generations, he took up the master-at-arms role on the smaller, but more advanced, USS Galatine, where he found himself often assisting the chief tactical officer in their own duties. Five years into that service, still not deviating from the heart of the war with the Cardassians, the vessel was badly attacked, with many crewmembers dying. As a result, Ra-Movraii ended up as the interim chief of security – a post he would hold, out of convenience, until the end of the war, despite the fact he was only an enlisted officer.

When the war ended, Ra-Movraii felt confused about no longer having a clear enemy to fight. Through the support of his colleagues and extended family, he elected to focus his efforts more on those around him, actively seeking to aid colleagues that had suffered, both physically and psychologically, from the Cardassian War. This led to a stint in training new recruits at the Mars facility for enlisted crew and taking a leading role in their well-being, becoming somewhat of a faculty leader for the emotional state of the recruits.

Ra-Movraii was promoted to chief petty officer and served in this capacity for three happy years, although his eyes were always turned somewhat towards the direction of the Cardassian DMZ, especially as there were more and more infractions and violations pushing the Federation and the Union closer to another conflict of some description. When political atrocities were committed against the likes of the settlers of Dorvan V, he could stomach it no longer, becoming outraged at the seeming inability of Starfleet to respond to the tangible threat of the Cardassian empire. During a training cruise out towards that region of the Alpha Quadrant, Ra-Movraii defected, bringing with him a handful of his former comrades from the Galatine and Zhukov, and joined the resistance group calling themselves the Maquis.

Ra-Movraii used his Starfleet expertise and wartime experiences to hone a small resistance cell into one of the more effective operating against the Cardassian government. Over the course of two years, Ra-Movraii became one of the Union’s primary targets for capture or termination, as he mounted numerous successful raids and espionage missions against their infrastructure. However, this fortune ran out when he was captured and arrested by his enemies in 2372. He would go on to spend two gruelling years in a Cardassian internment camp, which would have both Maquis and Starfleet numbers added to it. Whilst he was heartbroken to learn that the Maquis had been wiped out by the Dominion, this served to spur him into action, as he managed to lead a successful revolt and escape the camp, saving a dozen Starfleet officers in the process.

Although the Maquis were gone, he used a captured Cardassian vessel to continue targeting outposts and soft targets in the final years of the Dominion War, using hit-and-run tactics to effectively remain a thorn in the side of his foes. When the war finally came to an end, he willingly surrendered himself to the Federation, and was imprisoned at the New Zealand Penal Colony for over three years. His sentence was mitigated by his rescue and positive attitude towards Starfleet crew, as well as the amnesty that was increasingly being favoured – especially after the return of Voyager from the Delta Quadrant.

Once his time was served, and with the approval of several command officers that he had served with, Ra-Movraii was re-enlisted into Starfleet at the more junior grade of Petty Officer First Class, and he was assigned as a transporter officer on the Phoenix, where he served for numerous deep-space and scientific assignments for five years, before earning his old rank back and becoming the senior-most noncom on his vessel.

Eventually, attaining the rank of SCPO, Ra-Movraii was transferred to the USS Stargazer as the master-at-arms, and served in several deep-space missions, initially in the Beta Quadrant, and subsequently as one of the early scouting vessels conducting a half-year mapping run within the Nacene Reach of the Delta Quadrant, as part of the Delta Exploration Initiative, being an invaluable and insightful experience. Following their return through the wormhole, he was transferred to the DEI’s enlisted cadre and became a technician on the verteron arrays. Before too long, he was transferred onto Starbase 38 itself as the master-at-arms, although all-too-frequently he would become involved with investigations and feuds around the base, going beyond his remit (not that it ever offended his colleagues).