Tabe Marcus

Early Life (2365 — 2383)

Tabe Marcus (né Tabe Oyo) was born on Bajor in 2365, four years before the end of the Cardassian Occupation. His parents were both killed when he was just two, and he ended up first in the care of his grandmother in a refugee camp, and then in a Federation orphanage following the shift in borders between the Federation and the Cardassian Unions that established the DMZ. Perhaps out of stubbornness, Tabe considers himself lucky to have received a Federation upbringing rather than a Bajoran one, though he has learned to conceal this opinion after being labeled callous one too many times. Most of Tabe’s formative years were on North America on Earth; his tragic childhood and his Human upbringing both contributed to his rejection of Bajoran spirituality. When he was able to understand that some of his other angst was due to gender dysphoria, Tabe underwent the process of gender confirmation as a teenager and elected also to have his nose ridges removed. He retained his surname, but chose a Human personal name as part of this process, as he felt that it better reflected who he was.

Tabe had few friends growing up, not because of his species, but because his tendency to be sarcastic at a level that his peers interpreted as hostility. This suited him just fine, though, as he preferred to focus on his studies anyway. By the time he entered secondary school, Tabe was already at the top of his class in science and mathematics. His interest in joining Starfleet came not out of idealism but out of a desire to continue to challenge himself; he knew that there was no better way of proving himself in the Federation than becoming a member of its elite space service.

Starfleet Academy (2383 — 2387)

Tabe joined Starfleet Academy in 2383, while the Romulan Evacuation was ongoing. He elected to major in Mathematics and Astrophysics, with the idea that he would eventually become a science officer. His isolation lessened somewhat at the Academy, now that he was surrounded by peers that he considered to be close to his own level of competence, but he had social struggles for much of his early time there. During the Attack on Mars, Tabe was given a field promotion to Midshipman and assigned to a triage center on Earth to help handle the logistics of moving thousands of patients between ships in orbit and Earth’s hospitals. This was the first time he demonstrated his aptitude for operations, and later influenced his decision to specialize in this particular field.

His attitude and tendency to employ humor and sarcasm in the wrong situations held Tabe back in his instructors’ eyes, as he drifted from portraying himself as unserious to actively hostile towards his classmates, depending on his mood. It wasn’t until he had a long conversation with an instructor in his third year that he realized how damaging this could be for his career, so he learned to button up his natural snark just well enough to graduate as an ensign in 2387.

Early Career (2387 — 2391)

Tabe’s first posting in 2387 was to Starbase Bravo as an operations generalist. While he’d wanted to serve on a starship, his aptitude scores and evaluations had labeled him as better suited to serve on a starbase. He resented this somewhat, especially since he remained in that role for three full years, even though he had exemplary efficiency ratings. In 2390, Tabe was finally promoted to lieutenant junior grade and assigned as the night shift operations manager aboard the cruiser Al-Batani. This transfer gave him a fresh boost of confidence, and his service aboard Al-Batani was rated as exemplary for the year he was posted there.

USS Opportunity (2391 — 2397)

In 2391, Tabe was selected for transfer to the larger and more prestigious Obena-class explorer Opportunity under Fleet Captain Elizabeth Hayden. Though still as a night shift operations officer, Tabe was happy to have more responsibility and he saw this as the fast track toward advancement. Tabe had a mixed relationship with his superior, the equally haughty and sarcastic Lieutenant and then Lieutenant Commander Michael Lancaster. While the two of them usually saw eye to eye, their personalities were often too similar which led to misunderstandings. Still, Tabe was promoted to lieutenant and the Chief Operations Officer role in 2394, and they settled into a slightly more productive relationship as first officer to department head than they had as department head to subordinate. By this point in his career, Tabe was lagging behind many of his Academy classmates, and he made a concerted effort to make his demeanour and personality more pleasant to those around him.

USS Susan B. Anthony (2397 — Present)

Tabe joined the Susan B. Anthony in the same role as he had aboard the Opportunity. In some ways, this was a step down, as the Anthony was older and smaller, but it was also one of the Fourth Fleet’s flagships, which came with a different kind of prestige. Taking the opportunity for a clean slate, Tabe made sure to maintain a professional demeanor at all times with his fellow officers, no matter how hard that was sometimes for him. In 2400, Tabe earned a much-awaited promotion to lieutenant commander and became second officer.