Caidyn Arya

Arya was born in 2337 on Bajor in the midst of the Cardassian occupation. Her parents were farmers, spared from other types of forced labour by ‘giving’ a quantity of crops to the Provisional Government (passed on no-doubt to the Cardasians). Arya attended what school was available with her younger brother and learned of The Prophets and the Bajoran religion from her parents. She didn’t really believe devoutly but went through the motions anyway. Otherwise she helped her family on the farm to make sure they were hitting yield targets set by the government. A particularly difficult year brought on by bad weather afflicted the farm in 2350 and this led to a team of inspectors made up of Provisional Government lackies and Cardassians coming to the farm unannounced. Brutality ensued and Arya’s father was killed protecting her mother from a beating. The farm was seized, the  family were split up and sent to different internment camps and that was the last Arya saw of her younger brother.

Later that year Arya caught the eye of the Commandant of her internment camp and was afforded certain privileges. Fortunately he was not the sort to impose himself upon a thirteen-year-old, but she became his lackey and runner, a sort of servant, even an assistant, a position she used to squirrel pieces of quality food and drink to the other internees. Arya was given more responsibility and proved herself inately adept at organising anything and everything in a way the official Cardassian clerks could not. Sadly after a while and during the absence of the Commandant her food-stealing actions were discovered and Arya was beaten and thrown into solitary confinement for what seemed like weeks without end. While in confinement Arya started having dreams of white shapes and voices, of places she had never seen and people she didn’t know smiling and calling to her. Arya wondered if perhaps she was going insane from starvation and solitude, but she began conversing with the images and praying to the Prophets for Ter release. She was released when the Commandant returned however and as an apology from him to her for her treatment he took her as a servant on a trip off-world. Arya was now sorely affected and suspicious of Cardassians in general, even the Commandant who had been so kind to her. She prayed to the Prophets for her escape, for someone to find her and lead her out from the tyranny of The Occupation. On her third night away on a planet she didn’t know Arya was able to escape a party at which she was serving Cardassians and their compatriots, through the surprise assistance of another server, a young man whom she had never met before. He seemed to know inherently or telepathically what she wanted and guided her out of the party, past guards and dignitaries with pinpoint precision, he gave her directions to follow that were flawless and Arya was able to stay hidden and eventually make contact with a Starfleet Spy by the name of Novic, who was posing as a Romulan. Novic was able to spirit the girl off-world and into Federation custody. Arya has often dreamt of the man at the party but even after extensive searches has never been able to find any trace of him. No-one else at the party remembered him at all. It is Arya’s belief he was an incarnation of The Prophets and she regards her journey to freedom as a miracle and The Prophets will.

Arya was determined from her arrival in the Federation to help fight for Bajor. The best and only real way she could see how to do that was to join Starfleet which she did after much study and preparation in 2365 at the age of eighteen. She used the skills she had acquired for organisation and all-round knowledge to become a good Operations officer and graduated with respectable position in 2368.

In 2369 after the Cardassian withdrawal from Bajor Arya was able to re-connect with her mother who now owns and runs the same family farm in Rakantha province. Arya offered to come back and help but her mother had plenty of help from friends and acquaintances from her internment camp who were looking for employment. Arya’s mother deemed her work in Starfleet far more important and Arya continues to serve with an aim to help the Federation and her people by proxy.