Kael Draven

Born to the Kael family in the year 2356 in a small farmhouse in the Kendra Province, Draven was the only child of Tal and Kial. The Kael family were one of just twelve families allowed to retain their land during the Cardassian Occupation, on the condition that all crops and produce were given to the Cardassians. As a result, the family were seen by many as collaborators. Underground, however, the Kael family helped only long enough to guarantee their son’s future. When he was just three years old in 2359, Kael Draven and two other children from his village (Jenia and Sandar) were escorted from Bajor on a transport ship with only Kial Kael as a parental influence – their parents and joined Tal in the Bajoran Resistance.

Almost two weeks after leaving Bajor, the transport arrived at its destination – the planet Betazed – deep within Federation space. The children kept in regular contact with their families via couriers, and whilst their family members struggled against Cardassian oppression, the three children received Federation schooling and were brought up to hold true to the Bajoran faith whilst also believing in the ideals of the Federation.

When the children reached the tender age of 16, Jenia and Sandar opted to remain on Betazed and continue schooling with a view to becoming members of Starfleet. Draven had other ideas. Seeking to find his mother and father once more, the young Bajoran returned to Bajor in 2372. When he arrived at Bajor, Draven found nothing but sorrow. The family home had been burned to the ground, and records showed that his parents had been killed in the Galetep prison camp. The reasoning behind their imprisonment, which had been corroborated by Bajorans some years later, indicated that his parents had been responsible for several bombings and even the assassinations of Cardassian occupiers. He had never sought violence, and to find out that his loved ones had been so violent (even in pursuit of an admirable goal) hit the young Bajoran hard. He opted to join the Bajoran Militia, which was now a mere security force patrolling Bajoran worlds and working on Deep Space Nine as a member of the security detachment there. He served on the First Minister’s protection team on Bajor until late 2373 when, just before the outbreak of the Dominion War, he transferred to work aboard Deep Space Nine as a member of the station’s security personnel under Constable Odo.

When DS9 was evacuated of Starfleet personnel in early 2374, Draven remained behind with all of his Bajoran colleagues. Much to his dismay, Draven had not only become embroiled in conflict for the first time but was now working with the same people who had imprisoned his parents and killed countless more Bajorans. Thankfully, just months later, the station was returned to Federation hands after the success of Operation Return. Draven saw out the remainder of the war on Deep Space Nine as one of the Constable’s most able deputies. Soon after the armistice was signed and he returned to Bajor, Draven was promoted to First Lieutenant and later, Major, whilst serving as one of several advisors to the Provisional Government, dealing with all matters to do with the Militia. He had demonstrated a keen eye for politics in recent times and was, to his surprise, quite accurate about when and how Bajor’s admittance into the Federation would take place. As a keen observer, Draven developed quite the flair for politics and diplomacy, so much so that he was offered a post in the First Minister’s cabinet following the Bajoran elections in early 2382, but he declined to oversee the successful integration of the Bajoran Militia forces into Starfleet following Bajor’s eventual admittance into the Federation, which was not an easy task for anyone to undertake. With his job complete and the Bajoran Militia officially disbanded, Draven humbly applied for his commission with Starfleet. Acceptance of his request was received in late 2382, resulting in Major Kael Draven becoming Lieutenant Kael Draven, a Strategic Operations officer in Starfleet.

Draven assumed his first role as Strategic Operations Officer with the 5th fleet and was most notably part of two successful first contact missions and the rescue of a stricken Cardassian Freighter in the Velos System during his first tour as a Starfleet Officer.

Less than three years into his new career, Draven had travelled to Earth for a special meeting in response to yet another dramatic event in the history of the quadrant. It had been discovered that a Romulan star would soon turn supernova, destroying the planets Romulus and Remus as well as dozens of others, and killing at least nine hundred million Romulans. After a series of tense negotiations, the Romulan Star Empire had requested aid from the United Federation of Planets, and Admiral Jean-Luc Picard convinced Starfleet to mobilise a massive rescue armada – “ten thousand warp-capable ferries” – to aid in the evacuation efforts. Promoted to Lieutenant Commander, Kael joined the Admiral’s team and worked on the implementation of this massive operation. A humanitarian mission of such scope, despite the political pressures from several worlds on the outer rim of Federation space, was exactly the kind of work Kael had joined Starfleet to be part of.

The armada was being constructed at Utopia and in orbit of Mars when, on First Contact Day, multiple A500 synthetic androids at Utopia Planitia suddenly went rogue. They lowered the deflector shields protecting the shipyards and the planet itself and hacked the Martian defence net. Moments thereafter, numerous synth ships began targeting the rescue armada, the Utopia Planitia Shipyards, and the Mars Orbital Facility. The satellite network surrounding Mars was turned against the surface, and the synths began bombarding the surface, igniting flammable vapours in the stratosphere and causing massive damage to the planet’s infrastructure.

Commander Kael, who had been at a meeting on one of the orbiting facilities at the time, could do nothing but watch, unable to prevent the destruction of almost the entire surface of the Martian planet. When the call came for the nearby USS Proxima to be activated, Kael volunteered to join a quick gathering of officers who boarded the Nebula-class starship and, as acting second officer, he helped get the ship out of dock. Although the Proxima was only able to offer scant offence, she was able to destroy three of the attacking Synth vessels before the attack was over. In the aftermath of the devastation, initial reports estimated that over three thousand had been killed, but eventually the death toll was revised to 92,143 in total – a number that would be seared into the mind of the Commander and all others who had been present. It was a devastating attack at the heart of the Federation, made worse by the fact that it could not be determined how or why the synths went rogue. It was also an attack that put paid to months of work on the rescue armada. The destruction of the Romulan rescue armada left the relief operation in tatters, leading Admiral Picard to submit a plan to replace the lost ships with mothballed vessels from Beta Antares Shipyards and the 40 Eridani Starfleet Construction Yards, and to crew them with officers from his operation, such as Kael himself. Alas, the Federation, advised by the commanders of Starfleet, rejected the revised operation and abandoned its promise to aid the Romulan evacuation, a decision that shocked Picard and caused dozens of resignations among his staff. With their mission in tatters, Kael found himself cruelly reassigned as Strategic Operations Officer for a task force sent to patrol and secure the border against any possible incursions into Federation space.

Over a year went by until Kael was forced to watch in horror again as the disaster that had been predicted unfolded much sooner than anyone had anticipated. The Hobus Star, located deep into Romulan Territory, did indeed go supernova, causing a massive shockwave that destroyed several key planets, effectively decimating the entire Empire. The Starfleet forces along the border were on high alert as the tragedy unfolded, with officers like Kael standing, waiting for permission to render aid. Eventually, to their relief, the order was received, and several early relief missions along the former Neutral Zone took place. Kael helped to coordinate events aboard the starship Thesis, dealing with many a Romulan in the course of his duties. But less than a month after the shocking event, the Romulans ordered Starfleet forces assisting them to leave Romulan space. With relations at an all-time low and the Empire in tatters, the Thesis was reduced to border patrols and escort duties that felt like a return to the 2360s, when the Empire first came out of isolation. Just over a decade since the end of the Dominion War, the quadrant had changed beyond recognition.

In the years that followed, Kael earned quite a reputation as he used all of his influence to work with those Romulan refugees who had made it to Federation space, and helped to establish several colonies where Federation and Romulan citizens would live together.

In February of 2390, Commander Kael Draven was headhunted by the commanding officer of the USS Obena, Captain Ihaab al-Bari, to serve aboard the prototype of the Obena-class as his first officer, but also his strategic operations officer. al-Bari and Draven immediately gelled, with the latter quickly becoming a trusted advisor and confidant for the Captain. Upon the completion of his four-year tour with the Obena, al-Bari recommended the Bajoran for command of the USS Solaria upon the promotion and reassignment of the ship’s Captain, Commodore Makayla Perin. With Perin transferring to command Deep Space 10, and most of her senior staff joining her, Starfleet concurred with al-Bari’s recommendation, appointing Kael as the commanding officer of the ageing Galaxy-class vessel. Many would have seen such an assignment as a step backwards given the ship’s ageing spaceframe and the damage she sustained during many years of service – but not Kael. Kael was acutely aware of the ship’s proud history, even from before it served during the war and subsequent operations across the home quadrants. To the Bajoran, serving as commander of the Solaria was a privilege.

A career in strategic operations and command circles had seen Draven develop into a fearsome tactician, a talented diplomat and a master strategist. With a growing reputation to boot, the Captain was entrusted with some of the most important missions in recent times, conducting first contact negotiations with the Ash’Voro, the Nisea and the T’Kreshians all before he had even been in command for two years. By the time of his 4th anniversary in command, Kael had also negotiated peace treaties and trade deals between implacable enemies whilst proudly following the mandate of peaceful, scientific exploration, but the best was yet to come. In late 2397, Solaria had stopped off at Deep Space 9 when the Captain was ordered to report to the Starfleet Headquarters for the Beta Antares sector on his homeworld of Bajor. It had been over a decade since he had returned home, and to do so now was just the refresher he needed.

After a short break, the Captain reported to Starbase One to take command of a new command, the Sovereign-class USS Eidolon. Over the next few years, Eidolon would be on the frontlines of every major event; most significantly, she led an evacuation of several ships caught in the dangerous Century Storm, assisted with border tensions during the Romulan coup against the Star Empire of Rator, and also took over duties abandoned by vessels involved in the late 2400 blood dilithium crisis. Following the Vaadwaur assault on the Federation in 2402, Eidolon reported to Vulcan for repairs. Once there, Kael’s years of dedication and loyal service were finally rewarded as he was hand-picked by the Director of Operations for the 4th Fleet to assume command of one of the newest and most advanced ships in the fleet, the USS Century.