Tora Zalos reporting in 11/11/23

Kinley Garrison · November 11, 2023, 12:59:55 PM

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Tora Zalos · November 11, 2023, 09:09:04 PM

Character Name: Tora Zalos
Character Age: 27
Character DOB: 25 April
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Character Species: Cardassian
Gender: Female
Character Family: Glinn Duvat Zalos (father, deceased), Roja Zalos (mother, deceased), Glinn (RET) Yuvar Zalos (uncle on her father's side & guardian), Grada Zalos (Yuvar's wife)
Character Bio: Tora was born just a few months on Cardassia before the Dominion War on Cardassia Prime, living a normal Cardassian childhood until the war itself broke out. Her parents joined the resistance movement against the Dominion spearheaded by Legate Damar and were subsequently killed by Jem'hadar while she was taken in by her uncle, a Union military veteran. She would not learn of her parents' death till she was sixteen years old.

Determined to keep her protected as his brother would've wanted, Yuvar and his wife moved with her off world during the after-war repair efforts to Risa, where he was certain they would be safe.

Her time on Risa spent interacting with visitors to the planet fostered a sense of adventure and a yearning to explore the wider universe beyond the pleasure planet's boundaries. Guests to Risa came from practically every nook and cranny of the universe, bringing with them a plethora of stories and cultures that she found herself thirsting to learn about. Tora's thirst for knowledge and understanding grew, inspiring her to seek opportunities for personal growth and intellectual stimulation. As such she took up reading in the resorts' extensive libraries, eagerly absorbing any all information that she could get her hands on any and all topics she fancied while her new adoptive parents kept their textiles business alive.

Eventually, Tora's thirst for knowledge and new experiences led her to leave Risa and seek opportunities beyond the pleasure planet. Eager to experience the wider universe firsthand, she set her sights on Deep Space Nine first and foremost. There her personality, intelligence, and of course looks caught the attention of Quira, a Ferengi woman looking to start her own bar, who offered her the chance to work as a dabo girl. Not only would she get paid and be able to live largely on her own terms, she would also get to meet a variety of people - what wasn't to like?

She would spend the next few years of her life working for Quira at her bar set up on Deep Space 7, though she continued to study and gain knowledge during her spare time. During this time she would pick up a love for science, especially biology. Eventually, inspired by the Starfleet personnel she interacted with on a daily basis she decided to apply to Starfleet Academy, much to the disappointment of the patrons of Quira's bar. She approached the station's commanding officer and expressed this desire to her as well in the hopes of obtaining a recommendation letter, only to find that she'd already heard much about her from her subordinates and their teams. Tora's reputation for connecting to people and making them feel appreciated preceded her, in fact, and captain Judy Templeton was more than happy to give her the opportunity to use that skill of hers for something bigger than herself. She even encouraged her to one day train as a diplomatic officer rather than a scientist, so that she could put her communication skills to good use in negotiations.

With the captain's recommendation many of her crew were perfectly happy to help Tora study for the Academy entrance exam, and she attributes her success and eventual passing score to their efforts to this day.

While she would hardly describe her time spent at Starfleet Academy as easy, she did find it enjoyable. For one, learning about the other races and planets that shared the galaxy with her was one of the most fascinating parts about her education. She drank in everything that was taught to her; it was like studying in the libraries of Suraya Bay's central resort again, only this time she knew she could put all this knowledge to good use.

Tora assimilated surprisingly quickly into the student population, especially for a species that'd only so long ago considered the Federation their enemy. Perhaps it was the fact that she wasn't quite Cardassian enough in behavior and personality to be considered close to one of her brethren. The socialization skills she picked up working with Quira came into play here more often than not, especially with those who remained skeptical about her.

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Previous Role-Playing Experience: About four years, on Discord, by PBEM and recently Nova as well.
Department Preference: Science
Secondary Department Preference: Medical
Commissioned, Enlisted or Civilian: Commissioned

Sample post:
Tora had woken up at 0700 hours sharp (and forgotten to eat in her rush, whoops!), packed her bags and dashed off to Earth Spacedock to catch her shuttle at 0800. Once inside she'd passed out (fallen asleep, not actually passed out) in the back and woken up seven hours later to the pilot shaking her awake in the shuttlebay of the USS Medea - which wasn't her assignment. That, the pilot had explained, was six months away at warp, on Regula I, and the Medea was merely ferrying her there on its assigned route.

That, of course, had been six months ago. Upon arrival she'd found her way to her assigned temporary quarters aboard the station and, after setting her bags down, had decided to find herself something to eat. Suffice to say she was very happy indeed with what she'd found; there was an absolutely killer steakhouse not too far down decks from her quarters and she'd easily sampled half its signature menu before leaving quite happy and full.

Now she sat alone in the surprisingly empty bar with a glass of Andorian ale set before her, bag of shopping placed at her feet. Honestly, she could get used to this - especially if the Galileo supposedly came back here often. Living here wasn't half bad, honestly, and she wouldn't have minded being permanently assigned here - not that she preferred it to her first shipboard assignment.

=^=Ensign Zalos, report to the station commander's office in ten minutes=^= The comm chirped in the room with a deep male voice.

Well, this was it. Maybe. Good thing she'd only taken two sips of her drink before the announcement came through; she was barely even buzzed. Why the station commander would want to see her, she did not know - but orders were orders. Tora returned her glass to the bartender with an apologetic smile and made her way out.

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How did you find Shadow Fleet?
Reddit & while searching for Trek games on Google