A'ern Zerxes

USS Vigilant
A'ern Zerxes
Gender: Male Position: First Officer Rank: Lieutenant Commander Race: Al-Leyan USS Vigilant Edit this nav

Lieutenant A'ern Zerxes, an Al-Leyan, is currently serving as First Officer aboard the USS Vigilant

Stats

• Full name: A'ern ("A-earn") Zerxes ("Zurk-sees")
• Age: 24
• Species: Al-Leyan
• Gender: Male
• Hair color: Brown
• Eye color: Dark Brown
• Height: 6' 4

Family

• Parents: Kevol & P'nala Zerxes
• Siblings: Shiana
• Spouse: n/a
• Children: n/a

History

A'ern was born to the Zerxes, an upper-class family with a long history in the exporting of Al-Leyan coffee. He spent the customary ten years with the Haemachuo and was returned to his family, being cited for exceptional strategic and analytical skills but also severe deficiencies in mathematics. This was a difficult thing for his father, Kevol, who'd long envisioned his son as his natural-born apparentice in the family industry. It also didn't help that his elder sister, Shiana, had all of business skills A'ern lacked. As a result, A'ern began to feel like a second-class citizen in his own home. His mother was as supportive as she could be, but was limited by Kevol's heavy hand.

After several difficult years adjusting to home life and despising the endless remedial education forced on him, A'ern finally found success in athletics. He was the youngest starters on his school's qu'cha team, infamous for his fielding abilities and particularly getting outs by throwing directly at the base runners. A year later he led the team to a Quadrant Championship, though he was then suspended for two games for a direct headshot on a rival player. His team lost in their first Planetary Finals match, which A'ern had to watch from the sidelines. It was a tough lesson, but a valuable one as it taught him the pain of letting down his comrades.

With the family's coffee business a long-forgotten career choice, A'ern's sole focus was moving to the professional qu'cha league. He achieved this dream upon completion of school, with one of the league's top programs outbidding several others for his services. It seemed a climactic victory in his life; money and prestige that rivaled his father's. However, the glory would be short-lived.

As A'ern's team and another were traveling to a nearby system for an exhibition match, they were attacked by pirate raiders. The pirates had miscalculated the passengers, assuming they were ordinary citizens and not over thirty of the most well-conditioned young adults on Luraul. The transport's crew handed out weapons and they fought off their attackers, though with several casualties. A'ern survived the encounter and from it found a new sense of purpose. He'd spent years consumed with chasing personal glory, and now felt compelled to devote himself to protecting others.

Starfleet recruitment efforts among the Al-Leyans had increased in the last ten years, due to their physical gifts and cultural predisposition to duty and achievement. Before signing with his qu'cha team, A'ern had had a long talk with a recruitment officer out of courtesy and as a favor to his school's administrator. He'd barely listened, running through film of an upcoming match in his head while the officer spoke. One statement had made it through, though, and immediately came back to A'ern following the pirate attack; "we are the caretakers of the galaxy." To a boy made to feel as if he'd be of no use to his family, the idea of becoming a benefactor to all species was most appealing.