Merrick R'Ven
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| Lieutenant Commander Merrick R'Ven | |||||||||||||||||
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“Clarity of thought and accuracy of conjecture.”
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Lieutenant Commander Merrick R'Ven is currently a part of the Andaris Task Force serving as the First Officer on board the USS Blackwell.
Stats & Appearance
- Full Name: Merrick R'Ven
- Race: Rodulan (Idanii)
- Place of Birth: Bosul Rodul
- Gender: Male
- Telepathic status:
- Height: 6’ (1.83 M)
- Weight: 160 lbs.(72.6 Kg)
- Hair: Black
- Eyes: Black / Black
- Skin Tone: Dark Brown
- Birthmarks, Scars: None
- Tattoos/Body Modifications: None
- Build: Medium frame with slender build
- Handedness: Ambidextrous
- Birthmarks: None
- Scars/Tatoos: None
- Voice: Quiet, Soft spoken yet very articulate
- Presence: Quiet, observant, standoffish
- Poses: Hands folded behind back or folded across chest when standing. When sitting tends to sit with hands steepled .
- Languages: Borg Alphanumeric, Cardassian, Federation Standard, Klingon, Rodulan, Romulan, Vulcan
Family
Arlisa R'Ven: Mother
- Mother: Arlisa - Nueroscientist
- Father: Vanik - Astrophysicist
- Siblings: Dorn (Adopted older brother)
- Spouse: None
- Children: None
Partial Borg Assimilation
- On Stardate 239304.10 Merrick R'Ven's body was invaded by Borg Nanoprobes who had become self-aware and had broken free from their hosts. Most of the affects on R'Ven appears to be confined generally between his telepathic lobe and his eyes although his entire body has been flooded with nanoprobes.
- Telepathic lobe: The part of his brain where his telepathy resides has undergone a radical restructuring and has come to look more like a cross between a cortical node and a miniature Vinculum. This has had the affect of completely shutting down his telepathy. Whether he will be able to communicate with other Borg remains to be seen.
- Eyes: Internally Merrick's eyes have become more like Borg occular implants. Testing has shown that every part of the eye is able to absorb information with equal efficiency IE there is nothing considered peripheral. Also provides the him with enhanced clarity and sharpness allowing him to analyze complex three-dimensional shapes, magnify objects to the microscopic level and seem to be effective into the infrared and ultraviolet spectrum. However they are also having the affect of overloading his brain with a large amount of extraneous data which he is still having to learn to adjust to and which also causing occasional headaches and dizziness.
- Nanoprobes: Merrick's body is still being at least partially maintained with nanoprobes. They do not appear to be making any other changes on his system, but they do seem to give him a slightly enhanced resistance to poisons and diseases and he heals somewhat faster then he did before. However it is unknown if they will prove to have some other deleterious affect on him at some later date. Also it can be assumed that any agent that affects Borg technology will affect him as well.
- Memories: Although R'Ven had never been transformed into a Borg drone, like those victims who have been recovered he has the memories of those Borg. However the memories appear to be unusually strong and he is having trouble integrating them at times. They are effecting a slow but steady change in his personality.
Relationships
Personality
Observant. Curious. Reflective. Aloof.
Merrick was born with a brilliant, observant and inquisitive mind, one that seemed almost designed to absorb, examine and disseminate information. For Merrick nothing is as important as intellect and it is the aspect that he focuses on the most. He sees himself as a scientific investigator, but instead of examining blood, tissue and fingerprints in the effort to capture criminals, he examines technology, life signs, energy signatures, even people in an attempt to understand his environment or solve problems. While he has taken a double major in Science and Engineering, and even on Vulcan his courses tended to cover both sides, he is an investigator, always asking questions, testing hypothesis and pushing the boundaries. He is sharp, inquisitive and seems to have an almost instinctive ability to come to accurate conclusions on limited or desperate data, a skill that was honed by Vulcan training.
Weaknesses
Merrick has focused primarily on learning and mental training, so he has put little to no effort into physical training or prowess and as a result courses that focused on combat, tactics, and/or marksmanship and the like he floundered in and he was only barely able to pass. In fact he would have passed Starfleet training earlier than he did, except he had to go back and take the unarmed combat test more than once to pass.
Also Merrick’s telepathy is something that embarrasses. While a T4 may be strong among other races, but with the Rodulan it is bare minimum. He feels that superior intellect should mean superior telepathic talent, but so far it has eluded him. He practices at it with his Basotile as well as with many different Vulcan meditation techniques in the hopes of strengthening and focusing his talent, but so far it has eluded him. The main problem is that when attempting to make contact with others, he may get as much of a headache as others do, so he very rarely uses it as a means of communication. But he does continue to work at it.
Lastly Merrick is aloof, standoffish, or even self isolating. On Vulcan he was an off-worlder, on Rodul he was still something of an alien, he was usually smarter than his peers, this combined to make him a person who didn’t look to make friends or felt he needed them. It is not that he doesn’t like people, but that he doesn’t always see anything in common with them. When they are doing frivolous things like shore leave and drinking at the bar he is meditating, studying, writing a paper, playing chess or kal-toh or working with his Bosatile. However he is finding that as he gets into his late 30’s and is looking at his 40’s in a few years he is changing internally . . . despite his best efforts. At many points in his youth and well into his 20’ his parents urged him to find ways to bond with others, something he always had trouble with. At that time he disregarded it, but now he is noticing a feeling of loss at times. He is not sure how to deal with that.
Personal History
Both of Merrick’s parents were survivors of the occupation of Bosul Rodul, yet rather than becoming isolationists they felt that the best thing for Rodul was to become part of the galactic community. Once the occupation was over they adopted one son Dorn, a young child, orphaned by the occupation. Once Dorn graduated they chose to travel off world, to see the larger galaxy. They did this by volunteering to be part a group that would travel in search of of Basotile artifacts, but what they did was establish contacts all over the place: Earth, Vulcan and many other worlds and traveling back to Rodul.
It was during these trips that they discovered they were pregnant with Merrick. Although they returned to Rodul to have him they soon began to travel taking again taking their young son with them, either home schooling him or allowed him to attend other schools.
Merrick had a thirst for learning, one that was fostered not only by his parents but by Skarok and T’Mara a bonded Vulcan couple that often traveled with them, who acted as diplomats and scientists, but also doubled as tutors for young Merrick. It was they who saw his intellect more clearly and noticed that his telepathic training was for the most part nonexistent and was seriously impacting his ability to use it. So they recommended that he go to Vulcan schools, not only for training that would challenge him intellectually, but one that could help him telepathically. His parents agreed. So at 16 he was at a point where he could have graduated from standard schools, he was instead he was enrolled at the Vulcan Academy.
By 34, when he finished his training at the academy Skarok approached Merrick and encouraged him to continue his education and broaden his horizons and he joined Starfleet under Skarok’s sponsorship.
Double Major: Science & Engineering Graduating Starfleet at 40.
Education and Certifications
During his first two years, he spent time in the Vulcan temple of Kal'shar, which was positioned near mount Seleya. They promoted Vulcan mental discipline and discarding emotion, and focused on Vulcan logic and taught its adherents how to extend that logic. There are some who believe that some have developed a level of precognition, although the adepts will only say that it is just an application of extended logic.
Merrick Had always had a passion for learning, an unfocused eagerness that had actually caused some consternation among his professors during his time at the Vulcan Science Academy. He started fulltime schooling and there he continued his work in Astrophysics and Mathematics, classes he had already started before he arrived on Vulcan and he even took on Biology. The problem was that he was always hopping from one course of study to another taking in anything that struck his fancy. However, as his class schedule shifted and the number of his classes continued to accumulate he was accused of becoming a career student. It was not that he could not pass them, he was nearly a straight A student, but he took them apparently with no clear-cut goal in mind.
It all made sense to Merrick: He wanted to learn and continue to learn, But that was not enough. By the end, he had received degrees in all three of his main courses of study, but he was being encouraged to find a career.
"You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here!"
It was a human expression that he heard a number of times during that time frame. It was around that time that he left Vulcan, and at the behest of the Rodulan homeworld he went looking for the Basotile artifacts. It was seen by his parents, his professors and everyone concerned as a way of giving him perspective. He could not always be a student. It was during this time that he stumbled across his first remnant of the BORG. He found several artifacts, inert nanites, parts of several different implants and a nearly complete Vinculum. Ultimately they were given to the Vulcan Academy, but it was then that he had finally found himself!
He returned to the Vulcan science academy, and this time he was a changed man. He had drive, passion and he had a goal in mind. The next six years saw him dive into Cybernetics and Mechatronics like a madman! Now his propensity for taking various courses had meaning and a specific thrust. The courses in Astrophysics, biology and mathematics extended in a whole new way. And he took on things like electrical engineering, systems studies, Artificial intelligence, Nanotechnology and many others. When he left the Science Academy it was to follow that lead right into Starfleet Academy where he double majored in Science and Engineering.
By 34 he entered Starfleet and rounding out his scientific knowledge taking a double major in science and engineering.
- General areas of expertise:
- SCIENCE: Astrophysics, Biology, Biophysics, Mathematics, Cybernetics/Mechatronics, Nanotechnology
- ENGINEERING: Specializing: Programming/Artificial Intelligence
- Vulcanian Meditation and Logic & Problem solving and self-taught at Kinesics
Scientific Projects & Investigations
Vulcan Science Academy Training
| Vulcan Science Academy Training | ||
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| Dates | Posting | Assignment |
| 236809 - 238605 | Vulcan | Major: Astrophysics, Biology, Mathematics, Cybernetics, Mechatronics |
Service History
| Service History | ||||
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| Insignia | Rank | Dates | Posting | Assignment |
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Cadet, 4th Class | 238709.21-238809.15 | Starfleet Academy, Starbase 118 |
Double Major: Science BioPhysics, Nanotechnolgy Engineering: Programming/AI |
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Cadet, 3rd Class | 238809.16 - 238909.14 | ||
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Cadet, 2nd Class | 238909.15 - 239009.10 | ||
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Cadet, 1st Class | 239009.12 - 239109.01 | ||
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239109.10 - 239209.12 | USS Centris-A | ||
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Ensign | 239210.11 - 239212.20 | USS Apollo-A | Science Officer |
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Lieutenant JG | 239212.20 - 239302.15 | Acting Chief Science Officer | |
| 239302.15 - 239303.08 | USS Darwin-A | Science & Cybernetics Officer | ||
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Lieutenant | 239303.08 - 239401.12 | ||
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Lieutenant Commander | 239401.12 - 239401.26 | ||
| 239401.26 - 239407.05 | Andaris Task Force | CSO of the USS Blackwell | ||
| 239407.05 - 239409-29 | CSO/2XO of the USS Blackwell | |||
| 239409.29 - Present | First Officer of the USS Blackwell |
Awards & Service Ribbons
- For award descriptions, see: Awards and Service Ribbons
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Mission History
Stardate 239210.04 The Apollo-A detects a faint distress call while traveling through the Tyhpon Expanse. The call is emanating from a previously unknown planet, Neutronia. Upon arrival the ship detects distortions coming from the planet surface which make communication and transports to the surface impossible. Merrick is sent down with several others in a shuttle to investigate matters. Scanning the surface on the way down it is quickly determined where the energy is coming from, but the shuttle is forced to crash land as it is hit with an unintended energy discharge. Making contact with the Neutronians they send Merrick and Luna Walker to examine the technology used to create the distortions. It is realized that the Neutronians are attempting to use untested technology to harness the power of their planet's core, however they are really tapping energy it from a different reality. At the same time a Sicarius ship also arrives on the scene and, after sending down a few crew members to the surface to create problems, picks a fight with the Apollo-A. One of the Sicarious crew fires at Luna while she is examining the technology and the resultant discharge exchanges her for an alternate reality version of her brother Ben Walker. At the same time the Apollo comes under attack by the Sicarious ship. Together Merrick and W'vlep, the Neutronain researcher, are able to re-exchange Luna and her brother and seal the rift between the realities. Meanwhile in the skies above the Apollo defeats the Sicarious ship and allows the crew return aboard.
Stardate 239303.08 The Darwin-A, to which Merrick has been recently transferred, is sent to investigate readings that conform to known Borg signatures near the Beta Quadrant edge of the Pouiyeog region. Upon arriving in sector PR-E3, the crew found the Borg signal to have originated from a nearby planet, strangely enough there was no other Borg activity detected in the area. Scans of the planet showed a crash site on the surface, a group of disconnected Borg drones, and a cloud of nanites that had escaped the planet as a swarm that were being fired on from the planet. The nanoprobes take cover behind the behind Darwin against weapons fire from the planet. Three teams were sent down to the planet to investigate, while one is left on the Darwin to try and communicate with the nanoprobes and determine if they are indeed sentient like many speculate. Merrick was sent down with a team led by Chief Engineer Varaan and accompanied by Assistant Chief Tactical Officer Brayden Jorey and Chief Medical Officer Graeme Cook. Their mission: to destroy the vinculum and central plexus at the Borg crash site, ensuring it cannot reestablish contact with the collective. The team encountered natural obstacles, and one of the two explosive devices for destroying the Vinculum and Central plexus was lost and soon after an injured Borg was found. It was at this point that the team split, Varaan and Cook would attempt to save the injured Borg and Merrick and Commander Jorey would continue to the Vinculum and Central Plexus, the mission goals shifted somewhat. Instead of destroying the communication gear outright, Merrick and Commander Jorey were to use them to block any other signals that the Borg may try to send, in or out. Ultimately Commander Jorey and Lt Merrick R’Ven were able to use the Vinculum to block any signals, but Merrick himself was unintentionally injured in an attempt to telepathically communicate with the swarm of nanoprobes and he was partially assimilated in an effort to save him. In the end, the crew returns to the ship, the remaining Borg are euthanized via phaser fire and the nanites are moved to an area where they can live and grow. Merrick himself is left to face his new life dealing with the aftereffects of assimilation.
NPC Listing · USS Columbia Crew Manifest · Crew History
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