Allan Alia-Ledgard

Youth

Born Alia Allan-Ledgard, Allan knew that he experienced the world in a different way from those around him from an early age. When you’re young, this doesn’t matter quite so much, but, by the time he turned nine, he started to understand that the difference mattered in a fundamental way. It was not, as he once explained to a friend, that he liked to “pretend” that he was a handsome prince. Rather, when he decided to play the part of a prince, he became that part; that part felt simply right, and honest, and wonderful. His inner eye saw a different form than the rest of the world: not a skinny young girl, tall for her age, with dimples and wide eyes. In his mind, he saw a young boy built of muscle and courage, joyful in his pursuit of all things wild and free.

Allan’s parents were, like most schooled in the Federation education system, prepared for this possibility when they decided to have children. They explored the concepts of gender with their child, and took the time to make sure it was what he wanted. The medical procedures needed were entirely possible, and (unlike prior epochs) both relatively easy to induce and to reverse, even for children. With nothing much to risk, and everything to gain, they agreed to Allan’s request and helped him attend a special program offered by their colony’s socialized medical system.

A few weeks later, Allan emerged, feeling as if his inner picture could now finally be seen.

As he grew older, Allan forged through life with that same passion and determination, and he joined the Starfleet Enlisted Program in order to serve on a starship. His parents were deeply upset that he chose that, rather than a proper degree program through their local university system, and this was just the subject of a great many rows. Allan did leave, however, and spent a summer training at the San Francisco campus on Earth. Then he was assigned to his first starship, and the rest of his life began.

Enlisted Service

With the aftermath of the Dominion War still touching every aspect of Federation life, Starfleet found itself desperate for new recruits as it struggled to not only rebuild its ranks, but dramatically expand its operational capacity. Allan found himself serving as a crewman in training on the USS Hopper, where he showed himself able and willing to take on any task with ardor.

Over the next four years, he worked his way up the ranks to petty officer, first class, and found himself in the position of mentoring new trainee crewmen in his stead. This was his first real taste of that sort of responsibility, and he found that he adored the chance to be the guide to others that he had always wanted for himself.

He finally transferred to the USS Mendocino, where he was promoted to chief petty officer, and found himself with double the responsibility. Now with duties that included regularly going planet-side on away missions. Working alongside various officers, he managed to both showcase his own skill and natural intelligence, whilst picking up tips and tricks from the more highly-trained officers.

On one such away mission, seven months after being transferred to the Mendocino, that he saved his new captain’s life and set his feet firmly on an altogether different trajectory than the one he had been on.

While on a 3rd-contact mission with a newly Warp-capable species, the Kefens, a dramatic shift in the ruling body’s power structure took place. Apparently, the same type of shift took place every ten years, and the previous missions had all taken place within that window, missing it entirely. The political situation turned from sanguine and receptive to utterly hostile in a matter of minutes, as the new Kefen State-Chief declared martial law.

Though Kefen technology could not match Starfleet, a forcefield is still a forcefield, and the capital city was covered by one completely. Unless she wanted to start a bombing run, the Mendocino could do nothing. The away team, trapped, began to make their way toward the city outskirts. One of the officers, a linguist, had befriended some locals who offered succor, and all seemed like it might turn out alright. But then the police caught up to them and, after killing a number of their local supporters and shooting the Mendocino’s captain, were about to kill the rest of the away team as well.

Until Allan started singing.

In Kefan culture, singing was considered a holy act, and Allan’s voice (a natural tenor with perfect pitch) just about melted the police team’s hearts. They were only taken by this for a few moments, but they were moments enough to save the away team’s life.
The away team were able to subdue the police, grab the captain, and escape. The captain survived her wounds and, upon learning of Allan’s quick thinking, told him that she thought he had the right stuff to make it as an officer. She offered to sponsor him if he wished, and told him she would support his application wholly if he so wished.

Honored, surprised, and intrigued, Allan agreed. With the support of the bridge crew who all took a great shine to him, and the captain’s backing, he passed the Academy exams and began his studies as a remote student, receiving on-the-job experience as a cadet aboard the Mendocino.

Starfleet Commissioned Career

He would continue to serve aboard the Mendocino for five more years, and when he finally transferred out, it felt like leaving his family all over again. But this time, it was for the position of a lifetime. Department-head on a deep space exploration mission, charting deep into the unknown on a five-year mission far beyond the edge of Federation space.

During the next five years, Allan saw things he could not have imagined, and experienced life more fully than he ever knew possible. New alien species, strange planets, exotic anomalies… and through it all he found in himself a passion for exploration that burned like the heart of a star. But he also found a love of leadership, a quiet and profound peace that settled over him as he slowly molded his department’s various individual souls into a single unified group capable of taking on even the most demanding tasks without a single interpersonal issue getting in the way.

Upon returning to Federation space, he accepted the offer of an old friend to teach a class at Starfleet Academy about deep space exploration, spent the next five and a half years teaching there. But, all the while, the itch to get back in space grew within him, burning hotter. He knew he needed to be back at the edge of the unknown.

And so, at age 38, he re-applied for active duty. His exemplary service and incredible range of supporting advocates helped smooth the way to a position as XO aboard the Sabre-class USS Montmouth. In his first fully command-level role, he saw his little ship through a number of skirmishes with pirates in the wake of the Hobus  disaster, providing cover to civilian humanitarian missions from Federation member worlds.

Taking Command

Three years later, decorated and considered a rising star in the fleet, Allan got his very own first command: a Raven-class starship, small but beautiful. With his whole future before him, Allan gathered a crew of intrepid souls, and set forth between the stars.