Sky Blake/History
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Early life
In January 2391, Sky Blake awoke in a Brekkian medical facility with no recollection of the previous 15 years of her life or that of her husband Sabor and their two children - one of which had only recently been born. With nowhere else to go, she reluctantly accepts Sabor’s offer to stay with him for at least a few days. As time passes, she grows more trusting of Sabor, as she begins to understand the telepathic bond between them.
The following four months sees Sabor update Blake on the current events occurring in the quadrant and her history and time in Starfleet as they rekindle their relationship. Though she re-accepts his proposal to marry him, she refuses to leave her homeworld, and Sabor is unwilling to force the issue. This choice ultimately results in Sabor’s death, as the two become caught in a fire-fight between the Brekkian military and an extremist group attempting to destroy an Ornaran embassy. Sabor is mistakenly shot by military personnel, fatally wounded, and is pronounced deceased on stardate 239105.01.
Days later, still in shock and without an adequate support network, Blake leaves her two children with her mother on Brekka, believing them to be better off without her—abandoning them to live a solitary life on Ornara as she comes to terms with Sabor’s death.
2392
Joining USS Veritas
Zhou Tai-Sheng finds Blake living on the Ornaran homeworld in 2392, working with law enforcement to rid her area of residence of further crime incited by the black market drug trade. She is approached in a bar winding down from a days work—after some minor convincing, she agrees to assist the USS Veritas with Brekkian drug cartels around Meridian, and was assigned to the Veritas as the ship’s strategic operations officer for the ongoing Operation Safe Harbor under the provisional rank of Lieutenant Commander. With no clear recollection of her Starfleet experience, she studies and receives on-the-job training by the Veritas crew.
She clashes continuously with special operations officer Brandon Cormac, as their two positions are suspiciously similar. The two reconcile their differences, however, and move their offices on Veritas closer together on deck 6, branching off from the ship’s CIC. Later that year, she accidentally walks in on Cormac with Elis Nacubaq during an intimate moment, though she's not fazed by the incident, going so far as to even laugh Elis off when he apologises.
After a few months with a provisional rank, Captain Rosa Carrero grants her the rights and privileges of Lieutenant Commander.
2393
Peaceforce Five
On stardate 239307.21, Blake is lent to Peaceforce Five, and posted to the USS Syracuse under the command of Roshanara Rahman following reports of suspicious activity involving Voreic Industries in the Menthar Corridor. The first week of her stay proves uneventful, but the Syracuse, assigned as a support vessel to the USS Invicta, is caught in conflicts surrounding Adovan territory, one involving Titus Vassily.
After both crews resolve the incident, she ignores all requests to assist a small task force formed by Starfleet Intelligence to examine all records pertaining to Vassily intending to locate and capturing him, claiming an irritation of Starfleet’s inattention to the Federation’s local problems.
USS Venture
She remains on Astrofori One during the Syracuse shore leave, and along with Zhou, assists the Syracuse and Invicta crews in refurbishing the USS Venture. On its way home from a parade, the Venture is thrown into the mid-2200s, coming up against the Doomsday machine—during this period, Blake acts as the Venture's First Officer.
Back to Brekka
Safely returned to their home time of 2393, she was placed on a six-month leave of absence to spend time with her family, of whom she’d been estranged from with little contact for over two years. Blake moves her children’s residence to Bintac, collecting Sabor’s ashes from Brekka and returning them to his family.
Death of Rosa Carrero
Five months into her leave of absence, she returned to the Shoals and headed directly for Shadow's Edge to assist the small research settlement of Cakapunnual with ending hostile raids on their resources, working closely with colonial marshal Tydo. Shortly before being recalled to the Veritas, Blake takes possession of a two-hundred-year-old EM-33 plasma pistol, of which had been smuggled into the settlement illegally, intending to locate its origin within the Shoals.
When patrolling the main colony with Lieutenant Elena Sands, news of Carrero’s death broke. Blake immediately contacted the Veritas, recalling the crew members on the planet back to the vessel, before it was recalled to Star Station Esperance for a new captain. Blake would arrange a memorial service for Carrero along their journey back to their pseudo home base.
Upon return to Esperance, Zhou was reassigned to the star station, while Blake was given the role of the Veritas First Officer, one of the few bridge crew officers not to be reassigned when Captain Roshanara Rahman took command. During this time, Blake worked with Counselor Raissa Moonsong and Chief Engineer Luna Walker during the transition.
2394
Blake is involved in a minor confrontation with Tydo when tasked with finding evidence and potentially provide a list of suspects. With Walker, Kessa T'Dara, and Carter Greyson, they found wiped security logs and cut power lines - evidence Blake initially thought the Coalition Marshals of Shadow’s Edge had tampered with. T'Dara is injured when exposed to an electrical current, and the team reconvenes on the Veritas. When Sky cannot contact Captain Rahman and her team on the surface, she pulls the crew back to the ship, concerned for the captain’s wellbeing.
Blake was part of the team that boarded what was left of the cargo vessel Falcon. When clues regarding the party responsible for the Falcon’s demise arose, Blake and Evan Delano spoke of the known exploits of the Kos'karii, a large band of Klingon pirates that operated within the Shoals, also supplying the crew with information of the Kos’karii leader known as Jilor.
Later, Blake would speak to Mei'konda about her frustration with the Federation Security and Starfleet Administration, believing that Delano’s information would have assisted the Veritas and its operations. Angered that instead of working as a unit, Starfleet, Federation Security, and the Colonial Marshals continued to knock heads against each other. She would assist Mei’konda in interrogating the Falcon’s survivor Sov, a Klingon who was once a crew member of a Kos’karii vessel.
Blake, along with crew members from both the Veritas and Star Station Esperance, crewed the shuttle that transferred Rosa Carrero's to her transport home.
Becoming a Ranger
In mid-2394, Blake steps down from her position as First Officer, instead recommending Mei'konda as her replacement, and takes a position with the Starfleet Rangers. Required to complete what is essentially a 'crash course', she is sent to the Embassy of Duronis II, where she undergoes weapons checks and hand-to-hand combat assessments by the Embassy's marines (namely Hannah Martinez). She is confronted by Hannibal Parker, who served with her prior to her amnesia, and though she remembers next to nothing about him, she re-establishes a friendship with him. After three days and a successful training course, she sets off back toward the Shoals as a regional support officer and completes additional training with Orson Marshall.
Upon arrival at Star Station Esperance and awaiting a connecting transport ship to take her back to Shadow’s Edge, Blake is asked by Elis Nacubaq to check on Brandon Cormac, who at the time is stationed on Outpost 3 as mission security, and had missed comm check. Upon arriving, Blake finds the outpost crippled almost beyond repair, with Cormac being the only survivor after ten days alone after the attack. She takes him back to Shadow’s Edge, where he resigns from Starfleet, and Blake continues to work with him when he becomes a Coalition Marshal.
Blake is recalled back to Federation space to hunt down Marshall when he goes AWOL. Angered that her friend severely broke protocol, Blake arrests him and drops him at the nearest Starfleet Security outpost, before returning to the Shoals.
By 239409, notified by a Starfleet Intelligence officer that two suspects of a murder investigation handed to her by a CCMS official, have since escaped Shadow’s Edge, Cormac urges her to return to the Veritas, hoping the ship’s resources may assist her with tracking them.
The Veritas comes across Outpost 3 to check on Tristam Core’s progress in repairing the outpost after the Klingon attack. Stashes of felicium are found hidden behind bulkheads, and after weeks analyzing and about to destroy it, Blake along with Nikki Ryan, Sepek, and a civilian engineer are arrested by the Klingon crew of the IKS Dennas, and incurs “minor” injury. Captain Rahman has them released shortly after, and the crew are required to work with the Klingons for the duration of their time at the outpost.
In late 239412, Zhou Tai-Sheng escorts Blake’s son, Ayeden Blake, to the Veritas—and remains aboard.
2395
Early in 2395, Blake is asked to assist with the development of Bupirninyirring on Kidman I. Just three days into its life, the settlement is attacked by a minor faction of pirates—Blake suffers minor cranial injuries during the skirmish, though among the stolen items was the H.A.N.N.E.Z.—Rodulan technology that was meant to be implemented into the Shoals' new "3G" communications network, used to power com signals through heavy tetryon interference. Core treats her injury as they follow the pirates.
The pirates realizing that the two Starfleet officers followed them only for the H.A.N.N.E.Z., Blake and Core are lured into a malfunctioning escape pod with the large component and ejected out into space. They are eventually rescued by a civilian vessel and taken back to Kidman I, where the component is properly installed.
After the crew of the Veritas rescue the USS Astraeus, a Galaxy class vessel that banked in the Shoals, Blake arrests it's captain, Victor Yeager, for violating general order three and the travel legislation of the Bajak Laut sector, having been forbidden to do so earlier by Kelrod.
She joins Roshanara Rahman and Lael Rosek aboard the USS Atlantis, reuniting with Parker, and meets Kamela Allison and Boris Hendon of the Duronis II Embassy. When Blake returns, she suffers a minor seizure, resulting in the loss of memory (including most of the events aboard the Atlantis), and is placed on a week's medical leave and light duties for the following fortnight.
Kallo Ver is arrested and held in the Veritas brig after destroying his civilian vessel mere kilometres away from the Veritas and Star Station Esperance. She's asked by Rahman to join them as they interrogate Kallo, and he reveals that he had located a lost Romulan treasure fleet.
Vertias Chief of Security
On stardate 239506.01, Rahman reassigns Blake to be the Chief of Security for the Veritas, the first time Blake had ever held a department head position (not including her brief period as her First Officer). However, when the ship encounters the Borg, she fails to properly lead her department, resulting in multiple Borg drones managing to infiltrate the Veritas and assimilate certain parts of the ship. When giving her report to Evan Delano, she expresses feeling inadequate for the position - to which the man responds with his first mission as Chief of Security aboard the USS Garuda, leaving her feeling a little better.
Following an easy-going shore leave, Detective Sidney Ripley joins the Veritas when a group of miners on Havley's Hope go missing. Blake is sent down with Delano and Lorian Lovar to talk with the missing peoples' families and colleagues and investigate where they lived and the surrounding area. They turn up very little, though Sky provokes a mother missing their partner to encourage the group of victims to assist them and have hope that those missing will be located. Following this, they return to the ship.
An away team go missing mid-transport with all immediate efforts to locate or diagnose what happened to them failing. Upon realization by the Engineering crew that they may have been beamed away with a subspace transporter, Blake is ordered back to the Bridge to scan for Lael Rosek, the only Al-Leyan known to be in the area.
Limbo
Blake is among those present when Jhalib Ekal introduces himself. Though she is personally unsure as to why, Blake trusts the time-traveller without question, and stays nearby when he assists the crew in locating potential sabotage from the Temporal Integrity Commission of the 25th century. During this time, she accompanies Evan Delano, G'var and Alora DeVeau to the USS Artemis, which had been rendered mostly inoperable, and discovered that it was indeed missing portions of its cargo. The Veritas faces a stand-off with Tholian forces, but the situation is ultimately resolved peacefully.
However, shortly after this encounter, the Temporal Integrity Commission's efforts to disable the Veritas prove successful when the ship mysteriously loses all deuterium stores, forcing the crew to abandon ship to a small planetoid. Upon landing, Tristam Core encourages Blake, the second officer, to take command of the crew from three escape pods nearby, and they name their small but growing settlement 'Macropus'.
After two weeks, Blake grows uneasy when those gathered in Macropus have still not located their commanding officers. Blake leaves the small encampment and goes scouting, locating a signal fire set by Delano on a nearby beach, kilometres away from the Macropus encampment. Here, she runs into their captain and XO, much to her relief. It takes a few days, but they manage to move the crew to the beach.
At 85 days past since landing on the moon now dubbed "Limbo", Tristam asks Blake to scout a small clearing and ensure there aren't any 'deadly animals'. It's noted that she's actually enjoying herself significantly more than the rest of the crew, possibly attributed to her love of the outdoors and the fortunate temperature (which suits the Brekkian Betazoid). During day 100, she is present during crew promotions.
Stranded for 101 days, Blake is bitten by a snake whilst out scouting. Affected by venom and with no means of communication with the crew, she starts hallucinating, seeing and talking to Sabor. She admits to him that she is still affected by his choice that led to his death - to save others from danger, which cost him his own life. Alone and with no crew nearby to simply stumble upon her should she fall unconscious, "Sabor" suggests using her stun weapon with her flashlight, which will hopefully make enough noise or cause a fire to attract attention. Though she initially rebuts this suggestion, she realizes she has very few other useful ideas. With his encouragement, she successfully sets a fire, though passes out before anyone locates her. She is eventually found and rescued by Geoffrey Teller and treated successfully by Cole Maxwell.
2396
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| Sky Blake SIMs |
| Crash-course (w/ H. Parker) |
| Kidman I |
| Dark Clouds |
| Haunted |
| Dewdrops at Dawn
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| Wiki only
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| As guest |
The USS Veritas is successfully pulled out of the time bubble it had found itself in and is towed back to base for the 2396 new year, though the crew had still spent approximately six months on Limbo. As such, the crew was given time for shore leave away from Veritas.
Betazed nobility
Blake receives a letter from Rivi Vataix, asking her to come to Betazed so to make a case with Betazed Immigration regarding Faith's status. With Zhou in tow, she is introduced to the Eleventh House of Betazed, and it's ruling family, the Vataixs - though she suffers somewhat of a culture clash, and feels uncomfortable with the free use of telepathy commonly experienced on the Betazed homeworld.
She meets with Aagan Eislas, Faith's father, for the first time and the two discuss Faith's options for when she is brought to Betazed—however, with a long wait between news, Blake chooses to leave Betazed to await court proceedings. She returns to join Rivi's small gathering on Betazed, and again discusses Faith with Aagan, learning that Brekka is dragging its heels politically. She thanks him for the information.
Searching for Kehive na-Soldim
She is called back by the Starfleet Rangers to accompany Rairen Caide, the Shoals division's new managing officer, to assist with the search for Lieutenant Kehive na-Soldim, who had gone missing the year before. On their journey, she runs into Jo Marshall on Starbase 118, and the two briefly discuss the possibility of their ships working together in future.
Caide requests to stop by smaller settlements to check in with them and learn about the area in general. They arrive in Bupirninyirring and are greeted by settlement manager Keyri Largew, who explains that the water reclamators Tristam Core designed the year before have been having ongoing maintenance problems, and fears foul play—Caide offers to take a look at them. The next day, the two are assisting with menial tasks and learning about the settlement when Caide is involved in a minor accident with Pierce Macnamara's horse and carriage. The following evening, Blake locates the water reclamator saboteur, a colonist who wishes to move the minor settlement away from the Tholian border and takes them to Largew.
Unable to treat Caide on Kidman, the two Rangers leave the area for the nearest outpost with medical supplies. They begin a tour down the Tholian border once Caide is healed and cleared for duty, and after four months, end up in the Roxburgh sector with no lead on Kehive's location. Blake receives a request to return to the Veritas following the death of another Starfleet officer on Ketar V, and she leaves Caide to continue the search in the system to re-join her crew.
Murder of Armin Illanos
She immediately joins Nic del Vedova and Addison MacKenzie as they perform an autopsy on deceased Starfleet officer Lieutenant Commander Armin Illanos, a liaison overseeing the colony's work for a contract with Starfleet. They determine Illanos was stabbed 78 times, and that he handled felicium prior to his death. With an inconclusive psychological profile and no real evidence to assist with identifying suspects, Blake leaves the pair of doctors and returns to the Bridge for more information. Veritas receives a call from Marshal Sun-Yo from the Ketar V CCMS office and explains Wil Ukinix, Kelrod, and Captain Roshanara Rahman have been arrested following an "incident" at a public restaurant. Blake heads to the surface in hopes of alleviating some of the tension forming between Starfleet and the Coalition Marshals.
Blake:::off the top of her head:: One count threat of bodily harm. Two counts of assault. One count of possession of unregistered energy weapon, ::she glared at Kelrod:: one count of *discharging* an energy weapon. Disturbance of the peace. ::She glanced at Ukinix.:: I'm told you nearly resisted arrest, too. You're lucky they didn't have enough to add that to your ticket.
Ukinix: ::Looking down at ground:: Yeah, nah. There’s a reason they didn’t add resisting arrest as charge. ::Looking up:: Because that part is *bull$#^@*.
If Blake's eyes weren't already cold, they were frosty now.
Blake reunites with Captain Rahman in a Marshals holding cell on Ketar V, where she debates officer etiquette and protocol with Wil Ukinix and Kelrod. She becomes frustrated with Kelrod's insistence upon them having done nothing wrong, even mentioning that she intended leaving the group to the mercy of the Marshals and that she intended on having a strong conversation with Kelrod regarding his methods 'later'. Rahman queries her about the ongoing investigation, and the potential meanings behind the initials "RL" left behind at Illanos' crime scene. Eventually, Rahman secures their temporary release and the group returns to the investigation.
Attending Livernois Shipyards, the crew meet Rama Suttirat. Though the man proves suspicious, he yields little helpful information and plays a long game with the Starfleet officers. He points them towards a Romulan man by the name of Lukaik, and shows them where his locker is located. Frustrated, Blake suggests the crew break open the lock of Lukaik's locker. There they find the murder weapon and promptly arrest Lukaik.
Lukaik's potential motive behind Illanos' murder fails to match up with the other aspects of the case, but they are unable to have him released until they find more substantial evidence to pin someone else to the murder. After further investigation, the crew arrest Rama Suttirat, but the effort was too little too late: Lukaik takes his own life in Marshal custody, leaving Blake feeling responsible for the mans death. Caide finds out about the event second-hand and berates her for her poor following of protocol.
Spinal cord replacement
A few days later, Blake stumbles into Sickbay and states to Doctor MacKenzie she feels as if she "is going to die", and complains of a serious migraine. MacKenzie discovers Blake's spine has begun to deteriorate due to the presence of thalaron radiation, which had been converted into metaphasic particles during an operation on her spinal cord back in 2388. MacKenzie and Geoffrey Teller place Blake in isolation, in hopes of slowing the progression of bone breakdown. Due to the nature of thalaron radiation, Captain Rahman orders the officers not to speak of the situation outside of those with rank. Removed from the rest of the crew, Blake feels confused and relays to Caide that she doesn't totally understand what is happening to her. As she breaks down behind the isolation field, Caide reassures her she will be alright. He leaves once more and gives her reports to go over while MacKenzie and del Vedova determine how best to treat her.
The Veritas becomes lost in a "Void" during the annual Sandhurst Cup, resulting in the loss of power to Blake's isolation field. With no contact to the Bridge, therefore no contact with the command crew, Blake is unable to stand by and do nothing. She assists del Vedova and Ukinix with evacuating the crew to Cargo Bay 2. The ship falls prey to enormous blue space-faring creatures seeking electricity, but when Veritas finally runs dry, she and Rahman realise that Blake is the only thing still producing power through her hunter's organ. To distract the creature while Rahman and the rest of the crew restore the ship's engines, Blake races through the ship deliberately drawing the creature's attention.
Blake returns to the executive officer position after Evan Delano's departure, though is still on restricted due on account of her spine. Zhou Tai-Sheng and Rivi Vataix visit Veritas, bringing Ayeden with them.
Catching up with her PADDwork, Blake calls Jonathan Cumar to her office and expresses concern regarding his reported missing combadge. She refers to the badge as "the difference between life and death", and notes his report didn't mention how he'd lost it. Cumar claims the report was as true as he could recall — Blake informs him to get checked out at Sickbay, citing her troubles with amnesia.
Blake grades Lia Rouiancet's Bridge certification. Shortly after, she greets Rune Jolara and Zaaia Leix, who join Veritas to serve as the special operations officer and the mission/strategic operations officer. She reminisces about the nicknames given to Brandon Cormac and her when they filled the positions ("Speckles" and "Stratops") and subsequently begins referring to them as such.
Addison MacKenzie and Geoffrey Teller approach Zhou and Blake regarding her holographic counterpart. They believe they can extract vital information from the hologram's biometric data that may help create Blake a new spinal cord with the help of Tenzin Zhou. Though Blake is hesitant about the hologram (and frustrated that Tristam Core still kept it), she agrees to its being the best solution.
2397
Blake begins the year inadvertently "zapping" herself beyond her own control due to the deterioration of her spine and nervous system, and subsequently loses sensation and movement in her right hand. To mitigate the effects of her own bioelectricity (and to stave off the habit of using her hand), she begins wearing a sling strap keeping the arm immobilized. In early January, Rairen Caide assists her putting on her collar pips, teasing him when he struggles somewhat with the magnets. He takes the teasing in stride, though expresses apprehension about her being on active duty. As the conversation continues, Blake asks him if they ever intend to "address" their affection for one another, and just as he leaves, Caide assures her they will when she asks him "out for drinks".
Blake leads a small team to the Ketar V Capitol in the city of Opportunity to greet Secretary Lily Ventu and Representative Tessara in the midst of rising tensions between Ketar colonists and Romulan refugees. Things go sour when protests outside the building become violent and a phaser is discharged. However, Blake and Roshanara Rahman are interrupted in their duties by FNS reporter Alatan Barjol. Though at first hesitant about the reporter, Rahman changes her mind and encourages Barjol to join them, much to Blake's chagrin.
In late January, Geoffrey Teller and Addison MacKenzie are reassigned to the Embassy of Duronis II. Blake joins the Veritas crew in the Shuttlebay and personally sees the two off, immensely saddened by the loss.
The operation to replace Blake's spine goes smoothly. During her rehabilitation with Tenzin Zhou, Blake admits she is frustrated with her 'slow' progress.
At some point, Blake relocates Ayeden to permanently live with his aunt Rivi Vataix and Faith Blake to live with her biological father, Aagan Eislas. She explains the decision to Wil Ukinix, referring to the 'original' Blake and Blake today — because she didn't remember having chosen to have children (and despite loving them unconditionally), Blake doesn't feel available to Ayeden and Faith in the capacity she believes she should, and sees their relocation as opportunities for both children she wouldn't have been able to otherwise give them.
Blake slowly returns to duty. When Rahman is off-ship and Jansen Orrey is in command, Blake is briefed on the damage the ship took while she was away. She reassures Orrey and Ukinix that the damage to a nacelle meant only that they were "christened" and that her temporary command (as well as Mei'konda and Evan Delano's) were equally tumultuous. Orrey states he is frustrated Rahman planted Kinan Venroe to watch over Orrey's command, and Blake tries to alleviate his frustration by explaining Kinan's background as an aide-de-camp.
Blake finally asks Rairen Caide out for drinks, and they stay immersed in conversation until just after midnight. When walking him back to his quarters, Caide admits a level of uncertainty of his place in their relationship. Blake tells him she wants to take things at his pace. The next day, excited about her blooming relationship, she asks Orrey for advice on how to take things slow.
Rahman: My point is, you're right, something might not feel right with you because this isn't just about doing my duty as the Starfleet captain tasked with keeping this region safe. It's also personal.
Blake finally looked back to her captain, their green eyes meeting.
Rahman: That experience taught me that pirates are a scourge to civilized space trade and travel. There's only one thing they respect, and that's force. You cannot negotiate terms with wolves. You must establish dominance.
Blake: I won't stand by and watch you do that, Roshanara.
Henley Marths
As Veritas continues Operation Safe Harbor, Blake becomes concerned with Captain Roshanara Rahman's recent display of bloodlust. Blake confronts her about the increased workload Rahman has placed on the crew and urges her to take the wins as they come, rather than demanding bigger results. As they debate the behaviour, Rahman explains her experience being held hostage by pirates with Kinan and Geoffrey Teller. Rahman admits her vendetta against the pirate population of the Shoals is personal and that she intends to establish a sense of dominance with Veritas -- to which Blake informs her she would not stand by and allow such things to happen. However, their conversation abruptly concludes when they are called to the Bridge: another version of herself, Commander Sky Blake, has demanded to re-board Veritas. Once aboard, they determine Commander Blake is be from an alternate reality (where she now commands Veritas). With her are her arestees, Oliver Zuccaro and Lena Josett, who she accuses of having stolen something from her Veritas and subsequently kidnapping her. As they head to Sickbay to verify Commander Blake's identity, Wil Ukinix mistakes her as holo-Blake, and the two Blakes reminisce over the incident seemingly shared across realities.
The crew re-divert to the S.S. Somershire after it is attacked by Henley Marths' band of pirates. Blake joins Raissa Moonsong and Kelrod in locating survivors and putting our the numerous fires aboard the ship. During their sweep, they find Kallo Ver, needing rescue from a locked coffin. When asked why he was in a box, he explains that it was "a very long story" — though upon Blake's demand he shortens it, he explains he intended to gain access to a wealthy family crypt and could only do so by being "dead". They arrest him and return to Veritas.
Blake and Rahman debate Kallo's involvement with Henley Marths when Hannibal Parker arrives on Veritas. Blake panics, concerned Parker's association with her old self may cause her undue anxiety in her own home (Veritas). He escorts Blake and Rahman to the Brig. On the way, they briefly discuss the USS Mercury, but Blake ends the conversation with a remark regarding its creation of holo-Blake and informs Parker and Rahman that she is not a fan of the vessel.
Their interrogation of Kallo reveals his 'minor con' is to recoup losses on a restaurant chain he foolishly pushed all his latinum into. He intends to steal a diamond located in the Badnut family crypt, but was unable to access the crypt through normal means. Because of this, his plan involved pretending to be a member of the family and faking his death so that he (in his coffin) would be placed in the crypt. When Blake asks him how he intended to walk out of the crypt, he realises a glaring error in his plan and is unable to answer. Frustrated with the absurdity of his answers, Parker threatens to toss Kallo out an airlock, much to the chagrin of Blake and Rahman, but the ever truthful Kallo takes it in his stride. He admits he knows Henley Marths only as a rumour figure he has done his best to avoid. Rahman determines this is enough for Kallo to be useful to the crew and releases him from the Brig. She orders Blake and Kelrod to help situate Parker aboard.
Blake becomes confrontational with Parker when he reveals he is already carrying a sidearm aboard Veritas. Seemingly unable to answer any of Parker's comments regarding their time together before Veritas, Blake's only reprieve comes from Ukinix accidentally contacting her whilst trying to reach Commander Blake. She takes a moment to breathe, and informs Parker that he is not to refer to her as "Sky" and that she expects him to read up on their position in the Shoals, pointing out that Veritas was against open violence. Parker objects to this, viciously, and Blake expresses disappointment that Parker's long tenure in Starfleet has not afforded him the experience she expected would facilitate his adjustment to Veritas protocols. Kelrod diffuses the tension and leaves with Parker, allowing Blake five minutes to calm down.
Blake is a member of the S.S. Rampart's boarding party and witnesses Zuccaro's betrayal, transported back to Veritas with the rest of the boarding party. Having landed in front of Parker and Jansen Orrey, Blake cusses, and explains what happened to the two officers whilst also getting up to speed with what was occurring aboard Veritas: intruders had found their way aboard. Parker decides to leave the group to search out pirates potentially hiding — Blake has reservations about the action (citing their functioning internal scanners), but struggles to confidently order Parker not to redivert. Blake leaves for the Bridge, and despite his best attempts to disrupt their efforts, Veritas successfully captures Henley Marths and his vessel, the USS Newcastle.
Shore leave for Blake is surprisingly uneventful. She spends more time with Rairen Caide, enjoying a board game with him in her quarters. Later, Blake joins Wil Ukinix in surveying the Newcastle. As she approaches him citing issues with the computer logs, she catches him in an awkward moment with Jezebelle, an "emergency strategic hologram" Marths had repurposed. Jezebelle is adamant her program had evolved from her first moment of initialization, but Blake is insistent upon shutting her down and picking through her program at a later date. She then joins Ukinix in the Newcastle's storage area, where the engineer "reclaims" the ship's rum stores. They talk about Blake's experience with Parker, and she admits to Ukinix that while she understands who she is today, she still struggles with accepting Parker and other events that occurred before her memory loss. Rattled by the mission's events, she sees Jansen Orrey and works through the problem with him. She also joins Charlena Vanlith, Parker and Ukinix in testing Kelrod's new personal shield, bitterly disappointed it didn't result in an incident similar to a disastrous test involving Geoffrey Teller.
When Antero Flynn and Emi arrive on Veritas, Blake joins Rahman in the shuttlebay to welcome them. As they depart from the new officers, Rahman remarks they should put together a band in the shuttlebay to meet new officers, pointing out that Vanlith can sing. Blake responds that Ukinix is the ship's Chief Engineer, and therefore everyone knew how to sing.
Rahman asks Blake and Kelrod to get Parker up to speed with operation protocols in the Shoals. As their meeting progresses, Blake grows tired of Parker's attempts at connecting with her, as he asks her about a gift given during their time together (prior to her memory loss). She again tries to reiterate to him that she knows very little, if anything, about their relationship prior to meeting on Duronis II during her Ranger crash-course.
In August, Rahman names Wil Ukinix Veritas's new second officer following Jansen Orrey's departure and decides the command trio require new head portraits. As they get their pictures taken, Blake argues with the holographer about the Federation flag in the holoimage background and demands the Colonial Coalition flag be included, citing its absence as being disrespectful to the region in which they served. Though bitter the Federation flag is included in the holoimage at all, Blake is victorious, and it can be seen in the background of her head portrait.
In command
Rahman and Ukinix depart Veritas to Betazed on urgent business, leaving Blake in command of the ship. While on their way to Havley's Hope, Veritas is hailed by Benjin Ranjoes of the Colonial Coalition Marshals Service, who orders the Starfleet vessel to investigate and "push back" a small Tholian observation station that appears to have drifted over the silent border of the Gallipoli Sector. Parker asks her and Kelrod to join him in the ready room — and much to Blake's frustration, emphasise to them his belief they are sailing into a Tholian trap, encouraging them to utilise the Shadow shuttlecraft he used to get to Veritas. Blake dismisses the idea, citing its problematic stealth technology and its need to be returned to the Embassy of Duronis II without incident. But as she dismisses the two men, Parker remains, chastising her faith in the CCMS. Blake remains silent during the ordeal until Kelrod had finished his admonishment of Parker — and she strongly demands both officers retreat from the ready room.
Silence permeated the ready room as Blake's eyes looked at Parker and Kelrod. She gestured to the silver rank pips on the chest of the maroon panels on her duty uniform, and addressed both men equally, her voice quiet and her gaze sharp.
Blake: See this colour, and these pips? They mean that when I say "dismissed", you should translate it as "get out of my sight".
Kelrod: Aye captain. Let's go...
Parker: Understood…by your leave, Captain…
Hoping to avoid provoking Tholian forces from investigating their presence so close to the border, Blake orders Veritas into gray mode, a controversial move that leaves the ship in a low-power state. This leaves the ship near-defenceless when they are fired upon by scavengers. Meanwhile, the away team reports the discovery of Kehive na-Soldim, the missing ranger Blake and Rairen Caide had spent months searching for. However, she is unable to prioritise na-Soldim over the pummelling Veritas is receiving, and works with her Bridge crew to lose the scavengers. Afterward, they detect a signal being transmitted by the Tholian station, attributing it to a tactic potentially used by the Starfleet Rangers. Once the ship is within communications range, Solak informs Blake na-Soldim has been apprehended: cementing na-Soldim's being a defector to the Tholian Assembly.
Having recalled the crew back to the ship, na-Soldim also in hand, Blake meets with Caide, Emi, Solak, and Charlena Vanlith in Sickbay. She orders Vanlith to come up with a way to safely return the Tholian station back into Tholian space, without attracting attention from that side of the border. Now, with her attention on na-Soldim, she seeks guidance from Caide on her next move, admitting that defectors are not in her area of expertise. Caide suggests establishing a timeline of events, and Blake asks him to join Emi, Solak, and Callistra Navarro in interviewing na-Soldim when he is next awake.
She leads a survey of the scavenger ship Gullyfluff with Hannibal Parker, Marcus Dwight, Timothy Alentonis, and Kionn Rao. Though Blake initially believes the job to be a time-waster while Vanlith comes up with her plan, the group discovers the scavengers were not "scavengers" at all, but actually Orion Syndicate pirates. Having run out of time, she has Rao strip the Gullyfluff wreckage for parts and to jettison the remains back into space when possible. Inevitably, more Orion Syndicate pirates arrive as they enact Vanlith's plan to return the Tholian station back to its rightful territory, but they are ultimately successful.
Promotion
Concerned they may be followed by Tholians, Blake has Veritas land on Kidman I under the guise of sharing supplies to avoid leading enemy scouts further into the Shoals —asking Captain Roshanara Rahman and LtCmdr Wil Ukinix to return to the ship while there. The crew use the time to make repairs and enjoy shore leave in Bupirninyirring. She admits to Rairen Caide that she believes Kehive na-Soldim was the lynch-pin event that caused Jhalib Ekal's version of the future, citing doubt that the Temporal Integrity Commission went looking for na-Soldim at all in the timeline. Because of this, she assumes (in Ekal's timeline) that na-Soldim made it to the heart of the Tholian Assembly and was integral to the Tholian invasion effort of the Shoals. She also admits that Parker is right in his assessment of the Colonial Coalition Marshals being ill-prepared for a conflict against the Tholians, so remains convinced that such conflict is indeed as inevitable as Ekal made it out to be. The discussion gradually turns to her position on Veritas: she informs Caide that the ship's tour of duty concludes "soon", and that whether it remains in the Shoals is up to Admiral Joseph Washington. Blake asks Caide if he is open to keeping her with him in the Shoals, and though he believes the discussion to be pre-mature, he states he would be glad to.
For her efforts in commanding Veritas on the Tholian border, Rahman promotes Blake to Commander. Daunted by the prospect of potentially being next in line to command Veritas officially (exemplified by the alternate Blake), she admits to Rahman that she doesn't actually enjoy being aboard Federation vessels because of their impact on her physical health. Contrary to this, however, her time in Starfleet has been important for her mental health. They conclude their conversation with the understanding that when Veritas' tour of duty ends, Blake will return to working alone with the Starfleet Rangers.
While on their way to Donova IV, the crew stumble upon a distress beacon transmitting from a runaway asteroid. She leads an away team consisting of Ensigns Kionn Rao and Emi, Lieutenants Zhanyt Lafizatar and Lieutenant Commander Wil Ukinix. The asteroid's atmosphere includes moderate concentrations of flourine, which quickly begins to affect Blake's eyesight. They realise they've encountered a pre-warp civilisation before it's too late, and Blake has to awkwardly back-track the language she and Ukinix uses when referring to the asteroid while in alien presence. Blake leads discussions with the alien leader Storlom, and though he is hesitant to allow the Starfleet officers to roam their section of the asteroid freely, he reluctantly allows them to search for the origin of the distress beacon.
Blake sends some of the away team away, but before long, the asteroid suffers what seems to be seizmic activity. Now totally blind, Blake has her half of the team return to the ship, picked up in a shuttle by Antero Flynn. As they report back to Rahman, concerns are raised over the crew's part in the asteroid's current predicament. Blake disagrees lending the aliens aid, recommending they instead pick up Ukinix's team and leave the asteroid altogether.
Emi manages to re-open Blake's sealed eyes, though isn't able to immediately treat Blake. Later, with the ship back on route for Donova IV, Blake jokes how she is "totally blind" and therefore unable to complete the 200 crew evaluations waiting on her desk. Ikaia Wong assists her most of the way to her quarters, Blake hoping to get to know him a little better. Later, Blake catches Wong attempting to prank Rahman. She feigns acceptance of his activity, but it quickly becomes apparent she has played him — Wong is left to clean up dozens of plush Tribbles in the Veritas briefing room and deal with C'lem Phan'ta'Go's numerous required reports by the time Blake is done.
Zhou Tai-Sheng returns to Veritas and crashes in Blake's quarters. Somewhat shocked about her damaged eyesight, he gives her a back massage. As their night concludes and Zhou leaves, Hannibal Parker visits Blake's quarters. The two argue about Blake's history with Parker—Blake wants nothing to do with anything "the old Blake" had done with Parker, while he wishes to reignite their friendship. The encounter ends sourly: Blake orders Parker never to speak to her off duty. When he leaves, she contacts Callistra Navarro to talk through what happened.
2398
Battle of the Bands
USS Veritas is invited to the Battle of the Bands on Donova IV. Blake joins Wil Ukinix to meet Sokarn zh'Kuujn, the event's primary organiser. They meet at the Donova IV Convention Centre and watch several bands sound-check. As zh'Kuujn mentions the competitor set to practise after Veritas, a commotion erupts just off-stage—a group of protestors, voicing their clear displeasure with Gorgeous George's existence, let alone his participation in the event. Blake trusts Ukinix and his team to handle the issue, as she is called back to Veritas.
Before she attends to her call, Blake runs into Rairen Caide. She explains to the ranger her recognition of zh'Kuujn's name, curious to know if he has any information about her. Caide admits he knows the name well—Sokarn zh'Kuujn is head of the Cobalt Clan, who run the underbelly of Donova IV. Livid by the revelation, Blake demands they attempt to arrest her, but Caide points out doing so would yield little results, stating zh'Kuujn and the Cobalt Clan are single-handedly responsible for Donova IV's socioeconomic status. He believes her arrest would be nothing more than a "temporary inconvenience" to zh'Kuujn.
Blake meets Zhou Tai-Sheng and Zhanyt Lafizatar in her office. They present a message left for them during their Starfleet presentation at a Donova IV university; a student is seeking their help, claiming their father is in trouble of some kind. Blake is sceptical of the necessity of their involvement, but allows Zhou and Lafizatar to look into the issue. However, Zhou tells Blake they came to her because they wanted her help. Reluctantly, she agrees. Callistra Navarro introduces the student in question to Blake soon after they pick her up: Kannika Saelim is adamant her father's life is in danger as he invented the Hexagon device the clan used to communicate between one another. Blake opts to protect Saelim and her family, under the guise of a tour of Veritas for prospective personnel.
Later, when Ukinix beams a quokka into one of the holodecks, Kelrod contacts Blake with concerns for the crew's wellbeing. She warns him not to beam "any other cute fluffy animals" aboard without contacting someone first. Because of the incident, Blake is forced to apologise to George for how Ukinix quickly Ukinix acted—though refuses to apologise for the actual theft of the quokka. She claims Veritas is bound by the Endangered Species Act, which forces the crew to transport endangered species to a certified xenological sanctuary, which George's animal park is not.