Imas Heeka

USS Constitution-B
Imas Heeka
Position	Cardassian Officer Exchange Program
Rank	Ensign
Species	Cardassian
Gender	Female
DOB	23686.7
Age	33
Birthplace	Cardassia Prime

Imas Heeka is a Cardassian diplomatic officer who carries the rank of gil and is posted on the USS Constitution-B as part of the Cardassian Officer Exchange program. She is a PNPC simmed by Lazarus Davis.

Stats

Name: Imas Heeka
Age: 28
Birth Stardate: 236806.07
Birthplace: Cardassia Prime
Hometown: Lakarian
Species: Cardassian
Cardassian Rank: Gil, diplomatic officer

Appearance

Height: 5'7"
Hair: jet black, often in a tight bun
Eyes: amber
Physique: slight but sinewy

Relationships

Mother: Nata Heeka; low-level government administrator
Father: Kotan Heeka; retired Gul, disgraced diplomat
Siblings: two brothers, deceased (Cardassian military operations)

Background

Imas is the daughter of a retired Gul-turned-diplomat (Kotan) and a low-ranking administrator (Nata). She grew up privileged. Her parents’ stations in Cardassian society all but assured her the same. While her father’s successes were great in title, he commanded little respect. His career was unremarkable both as a Gul and as a diplomat. Her mother’s ability to climb, even a little, in the Cardassian government was quite remarkable in such a firmly patriarchal society. It was her mother that she took after, but Imas set her sights on something bigger than a mere desk job that only perpetuated the broken system.

Growing up, Imas was a constant source of vexation for her parents. All she had to do was go into the military or government and she’d be a respected, successful member of society. But Imas wanted more. She wanted to change Cardassia, and somewhere around the age of 17 she realized that the only way to change the system was do so from within. So she suddenly changed her tune: she now wanted to become a diplomat and her parents could not be happier. She would carry on both her father’s legacy as a diplomat and her mother’s legacy of breaking down barriers for Cardassian women.

Her time in training was unpleasant. So many people around her were slipping back into old Cardassian ways of thinking even as they paid lip service to a better Cardassia by “othering” outsiders, and an unquestioning allegiance to family and to the state. She kept focused on the goal: make it through training, and then she could begin her work. She had cultivated only one meaningful relationship along the way - a surprisingly (and quietly) supportive instructor. Imas had accidentally turned in a draft of a paper that contained how she really felt about Cardassian ways. Imas failed the class for it, but the instructor summoned Imas to her office and confided in Imas that she felt the same way and encouraged Imas to take the class over but to avoid voicing dissent.

Imas is unsure of the promises of the Federation, but she can't deny its success. She wants to learn more, and she wants people in the Federation to understand that Cardassians like her exist. So she felt she needed to be on a Starfleet ship, but had no idea how to get there. She petitioned her government to give her a diplomatic posting on a Federation ship, but the government saw no purpose, nor did they allow such young diplomats deal with such a crucial and somewhat precarious relationship.

She persisted, and she found a loophole. Even though they were not in the military command hierarchy, diplomatic officers are - as established by case law - held to the same standards, responsibilities, and expectations as military officers. The court went even so far as to say: “For the purposes of the laws that govern this land, diplomatic officers will be treated as equals to military officers, regardless of their placement in the command hierarchy or not.” (The case was about a diplomat found guilty of murder. Which he was, but he argued that they couldn’t punish him as a soldier [death] because he wasn’t in the command hierarchy.) But that was her in, because Cardassia also has some clear employment equality laws.

So now, all she had to do was find her way into, and earn, her place in the (military!) officer exchange program. Not only would she be the only diplomatic officer to ever attempt to take this somewhat prestigious posting but the first woman.

Fortunately for Imas, her favorite instructor - Dara Ulas - was friends with the Glin overseeing the selection process, and made sure she’d get a fair shot. She didn’t, but that couldn’t stop her. She demonstrably earned her spot in the Federation Officer Exchange Program.

When news of this unusual posting got to her father, he immediately resigned in disgrace. They haven’t spoken since. Her mother disapproves, but is unwilling to let go of her only child. They keep in contact, even if it’s brief and tense. She has no siblings or extended family, most having died in various Cardassian military operations.

Imas knows little about her posting to the USS Constitution-B, other than it is a Starfleet ship.

Personality

Imas is a walking set of contradictions. Strong willed, but unsure. Closed, but lonely. Suspicious, but compassionate. She is both proud of her Cardassian heritage and deeply troubled by it. She desperately wants Cardassia to live up to the potential she sees for it: a powerful galactic force of justice and peace. If the Federation is the moral backbone of the galaxy, she wants Cardassia to be its beating heart.

Imas has a bit of a temper, created by a lifetime of adversity as both a woman and a dissenter; but a staunch pacifist. She often works off her temper by practicing various martial arts, but has never even so much as sparred with another person outside of her military training.

Despite her sometimes prickly exterior, she earnestly wants to learn and grow.

Hobbies

Martial arts (various, particularly those designed for weapons)
Bird watching
Studying Earth history, particularly the late 19th century through the mid 21st century