Ralan

Ralan was born and raised in the Suliban community on Niburon IV. Starfleet Intelligence had long kept tabs on the community, as several of the families there descended from the Sulibal Cabal. Ralan’s family was one such. He was taught from a young age the errors of his people’s past and this instilled in him a strong sense of guilt and a desire to make things right. Although Federation/Suliban relations had been relatively peaceful since the 2150s, there was still very little open dialogue between the two. The Suliban, being a transient race, by nature, had no central government and each pocket of the species more or less governed itself or settled on worlds owned by others.

Ralan discovered early on that due to his ancestors breeding with non-Cabal members, he had largely lost the abilities that his forefathers had been gifted with during the Temporal Cold War, retaining but one: The ability to shift his appearance. Cabal descendants were commonplace enough that his genetic abilities weren’t necessarily unique, but they were still rare. This could have set him apart growing up, but Ralan was affable enough in nature that he made friends easily.

His sense of duty, however, pulled his gaze away from his home toward the stars. At 18, he made the decision to apply to Starfleet Academy, an act that he hoped would finally begin the real process of the Suliban and the Federation burying the hatchet. His application was denied, crushing the young man. Rather than turn to anger, he simply packed up a few things and left Niburon IV on a trip to find himself.

He spent the next two years freighter-hopping, working odd jobs and never sticking in one place for too long. At one point, he ran into some trouble with a group of Orions, barely escaping with his life, ending up in a backwater hospital and that was where Starfleet Intelligence found him in 2370. Although skeptical at first, they explained to him that his application to the Academy had been denied based on political grounds.  Starfleet Intel had made its way to Niburon IV soon after, but he had already left and they’d been tracking him for two years. With the discovery of the Bajoran wormhole, the Gamma Quadrant, the Dominion and finally the Founders, Starfleet Intelligence had determined that Ralan’s genetic skillset could be a way to level the playing field, regardless of the politics involved. While he couldn’t openly attend Starfleet Academy, they could put him through the enlisted training program off-world. While somewhat disappointed, part of him understood and he accepted the offer.

For the next year, he devoted himself to his studies. Ralan was never considered gifted, but he was diligent, a trait that earned him the respect of his instructors. He graduated just prior to the conflict with the Klingon Empire. As a very junior Crewman, he was primarily kept out of direct conflict, focusing more on SIGINT duties along the Cardassian border. As it was technically conquered space, Starfleet still deemed it prudent to keep a watchful eye there.

Once the Dominion War broke out in late 2373, Starfleet Intelligence deemed Ralan ready to begin field work, which was always where they intended him to be eventually posted. He served on several small covert ops during the war, mostly sussing out and identifying Alpha Quadrant groups sympathetic to the Dominion. His shapeshifting abilities were heavily utilized and by the time the war ended, he became one of Starfleet Intelligence’s worst-kept secrets among the rest of the fleet. Although complaints were received from Federation member worlds who still held grudges against the Suliban, the Admiralty brushed them aside, citing Ralan’s service record as proof that the complaints were unwarranted.

Following the war, Ralan remained primarily as a covert ops agent, eschewing ship or station-board assignments for years, deeming it was the best use of his skills. For the most part, Starfleet Intelligence agreed, despite their usual procedures limiting the time any agents spent deep cover; his skills were just that useful and rare. This all came to a head near the end of 2383 when, on a prolonged deep cover op, Ralan took things too far and brutalized a man he thought was holding intel valuable to stopping a terrorist attack on a border world. Some elements of Starfleet Intelligence silently applauded the act, as his hunch proved correct and the intelligence was obtained, but the overwhelming sense was that he had been pushed to the brink and was close to snapping more than he already had. Ralan was pulled from the field and assigned a desk job as an analyst while he underwent a psychological evaluation. He was eventually placed on medical leave due to the accumulated stress.

Rather than allow himself to be defeated by his symptoms, Ralan applied the same diligence and perseverance he had approached everything else in life with to his recovery. He discovered a fondness for meditation and found he had some small skill at creative outlets. Playing the piano became a favourite activity of his during this time period. He had been making progress when the synthetic attack on Mars occurred in 2385. He suffered a setback in his recovery, unwarrantedly blaming himself for being sidelined and potentially not being around to help.

He eventually came to terms with his delusional blame and found it was linked to the guilt he had developed as a youth, listening to the tales of his ancestors’ actions during the Temporal Cold War. The connection made him realize he had been harbouring the stress from the guilt his entire life and helped propel his recovery immensely. In 2388, he was reactivated with the rank of Chief Petty Officer and offered a teaching position at Starfleet Academy.

He spent the next five years on Earth at Starfleet Academy teaching a basic HUMINT class. He became a well-liked by his students for his calm and patient demeanour, but also for his persistent demanding for the best his students could produce. The fact that he could change his appearance at-will was always a fan favourite amongst his students, as well.

By 2393, the heads of Starfleet Intelligence deemed that he was more valuable as an asset off-world and he agreed to a shipboard posting aboard the USS Kennedy. He spent the next 6 years on the Kennedy before accepting a promotion to Senior Chief Petty Officer and the Assistant Chief Intelligence Officer aboard Guardian Station.