Benjamin Takezo's page

Whenever an ally attempts a Task using Engineering, you may spend one Momentum (Immediate) to allow them to use your score for that Discipline, and one of your Focuses.

Whenever an ally attempts a Task using Science, you may spend one Momentum (Immediate) to allow them to use your score for that Discipline, and one of your Focuses.

Whenever you succeed at a Task using Reason or Control as part of an Extended Task, you may ignore up to two Resistance for every Effect rolled.

The character is wise and experienced, and draws upon inner reserves of willpower and determination in a more measured and considered way. Whenever the character spends a point of Determination, roll 1[D]. If an Effect is rolled, immediately regain that spent point of Determination. The character has a rank of at least Lieutenant Commander.

While much of Benjamin's hair has begun to retreat, that which has not has turned a fine silver. The lines in his face bespeak the experience of a career officer, though his worry lines outnumber his laugh lines. His eyes are deep brown pools, approaching a blackness only seen in Betazoids - fitting, perhaps, for his upbringing. While smaller than human average and slight, he nevertheless has a way of commanding attention when required.

Born in 2324 to a pair of civilian scientists working on Betazed, Benjamin's formative years were spent as a closed mind among a telepathic society. Unable to participate in the traditional schools, he was tutored by Betazoid educators who had been specially trained to work with children that lacked the ability to establish direct thought-to-thought communication. Despite his disadvantage, he distinguished himself as a bright child, and attracted the attention of the Earth ambassador to Betazed. She was the one who sponsored him into Starfleet.

Benjamin had a natural aptitude towards the sciences, both applied and theoretical, but he had social skills that propelled him towards a command position. He spent ten years aboard the Desdemona, a Miranda-class ship, eventually earning a brevet promotion to Commander and third in command of the ship. The Desdemona was ostensibly a science ship, but his tour saw the flare-up of the Federation-Cardassian conflict, and he oversaw the combat retrofit of that ship. During that time, he saw battle with the Cardassian navy five times, and while the first four were indecisive battles, the fifth...

The fifth still haunts him.

The Desdemona was on maneuvers, investigating a fleet of Cardassian transports, ostensibly transporting refugees from another part of the conflict. The Galor-class hid herself among the transports, spoofing her signature and obscuring her profile among the ships. The Desdemona didn't even know the ship was there until she detected disruptor fire. Shields were down in an instant; hull breaches followed soon after. The Miranda-class was a tough little ship, and while she gave the Galor-class Hell, it was clear how the engagement was going to go.

Another phaser blast stuck the Desdemona, and an explosion rocked the bridge. Center chair was hit hardest - both the Captain and XO were killed instantly.

Suddenly, Commander Takezo was the officer in charge.

He took an assessment of what was left - a single functioning photon torpedo launcher, phaser banks at 40% power, and a badly damaged warp core. All the while, a damaged Galor-class moving in for the kill.

He wasted no time - there was only one solution. May God forgive him if there were any refugees aboard those transports.

"Engineering, this is Acting Captain Takezo. The Captain and XO are dead, and if you do not follow my instructions perfectly, we will soon be following them. Power up the warp core to maximum, and begin ejection protocols. Tactical, prepare to target the warp core with photon torpedoes. Helm, set a course directly away from the enemy - we're going to surf the detonation as best we can. Get me as much shielding as you can in the rear, we're going to need it."

There was a stunned silence as Takezo gave the orders. "Sir," came the reply from Engineering. "The transports...three hundred lives..."

"I claim full responsibility for these orders, Engineering!", he shouted back. "It's either the three hundred on their side or the hundred on ours! Do it before we're all dead!"

Another silence, shorter than the first. "Aye, sir," came the reply.

The Desdemona never sailed the stars again after that day, but she was not lost. The damage she sustained, both from the Galor-class and the resulting shockwave from the warp core detonation, rendered her useful only for salvage for other ships. True to his word, Commander Takezo took full responsibility for the destruction of the transports. He stood before a Starfleet tribunal for his actions, and had it not been that no trace of refugees were ever found, he probably would have been stripped of his rank and ejected from Starfleet. Instead, he was demoted to Lieutenant Commander, and sent to work in at Outpost 315, a remote stellar research facility somewhere in the remote depths of the Beta Quadrant.

Had the Dominion never learned of the wormhole between the Alpha and Gamma Quadrant, it's quite possible Benjamin would have spent the rest of his days coordinating the research in that position. Indeed, when the time came to muster any available defense against the Borg invasion at Wolf 359, no message came to Benjamin. In fact, it was three months before he learned of how badly Starfleet fared there. But the Dominion was a far more different threat, and with so many hands and ships on the front lines, someone with his experience could no longer be ignored.

However, he could be placed aboard a ship of no real note, as far from the line as possible. Besides, Outpost 315 was not that far from the Shackleton Expanse...