Danzia
Currently Assigned to the USS Challenger
| DANZIA - Chief Medical Officer |
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| PERSONAL HISTORY | ||||||||
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Everyone comes, to some degree, from their culture. Danzia's family is very different from that of most humanoids, given that Deltans do not pair bond. As such, their 'marriages' are stable groups, formed usually either by a group of young people starting a new family, or in the older 'line' format, where a new spouse is added with each generation, the spacing varying between and, more rarely, within each family. These families are not sexually exclusive, but serve the purpose of providing a stable environment for children, and a 'safe place' for all of their members, something most Deltans tend to need. When Danzia was born, her mother was the second youngest wife in her marriage. The family had left Delta IV not long before, intending to seek trading opportunities in the sector which contained Starbase 118. Danzia made the number of current children three, a number which has increased somewhat since...tracking all of the children of a line marriage is often hard to do, and only those closest in age to her are listed. As to Danzia herself, she was born on a freighter, and raised in a family situation that was in some ways very Deltan, in other ways...not. From an early age, she had extensive contact with aliens, being schooled alongside them, and learning to not just tolerate difference, but appreciate it. Her family, however, placed a great emphasis on remaining true to one's own culture, that one could not practice 'IDIC', as the Vulcans call it, without understanding one's own roots. And, as she grew older, an even greater emphasis on not letting others become entangled with her. Deltan sexual mores do not generally mix with those of other species...and while there were some other Deltans around, it was not like being on Delta IV, where certain things were normal and expected from a young age. All of this combined to make her very Deltan in some ways, in others...much more tolerant of offworlders, as she had to be. Much more able to be alone...much stabler in a mixed community. Her parents, however, felt that as a teenager, she should be sent back to Delta IV, worried that she would not be stable, and more than a little worried that she would find no family of her own. Even Deltan teenagers, though, can be rebellious. Danzia had her *own* ideas about what to do with her life...or, at least, part of it. A fascination with the way cultures interacted combined with a desire to explore...not that she did not respect and care for her own people, and not that she had no desire for normal interactions, or for a child or two of her own some day. She simply had other things she wanted to do *first*. It came to a head when she was sixteen, and her parents made a concerted attempt to ship her home for 'a few years, perhaps until she had graduated from college'. That was when she finally voiced her ambition. She wanted to join StarFleet. This was, needless to say, not something anyone in her family had expected, but support came from a surprise quarter...her half-brother, Keron, two years older and always close to her...but at the same time, not somebody she would have expected to think this was a good idea. Let alone drop the bombshell that he had applied to the academy...and failed to gain admission. Taking several attempts was fairly normal, of course. After she had made it clear that she would apply whether they shipped her home or not, they agreed to a compromise...two years of education on Delta IV, and then if she still wanted to do it, she would return here to apply. It was two years of getting in touch with the heart of what being Deltan was and meant...and she found herself, to her surprise, enjoying every day of it. That did not, however, lessen her resolve. She applied to the academy while on Delta IV, six months before she had originally planned to come back, and failed to gain admission. Throwing herself into her work, she reapplied on Starbase 118...and this time she *did* get in, following a scientific curriculum...she already knew she would not be well suited to security or to piloting, and her interests were very definitely scientific...both in the hard sciences and the soft, although it was the latter...anthropology and psychology that most interested her. She threw herself into the training curriculum just as she had thrown herself into school once appropriately motivated. For her, the agreement not to 'take advantage' of her crewmates was perhaps less of a hardship for some, but she also understood the necessity of it. Extremely professional, she seemed very withdrawn off duty, but some of her classmates eventually realized this was as much shyness as classic Deltan reserve, and once she came out of her shell...she made a number of friends, some of whom she has been determined to remain in touch with. At her heart, she is a very open and friendly person, if a little nervous of strangers. Yet, she is also somebody determined to do her very best...at whatever she might end up doing. She graduated, and was assigned to the USS Steadfast as a science officer. This assignment, though, lasted a very brief amount of time, not even long enough for her to become close to anyone on the crew. The Steadfast was decommissioned. Danzia was transferred to the USS Challenger as counselor. She arrived on a ship in disarray. The Captain was (apparently) dead and the morale of the crew was extremely low. Furthermore, it was a warship, not the exploration or medical vessel she had been hoping for. The next few weeks were a very difficult time for the young Deltan. She had to deal with her own stress and everyone else's, and came very close to leaving StarFleet altogether. On top of all of that, she was transferred to Chief Medical Officer, a position she was not at all sure she was ready for! She came through it, however, and as often, that which does not kill us...she has developed more of an inner strength as a result. She has been promoted, made friends with Aadi, the new ship's counselor, and come to believe in her crew...even if a small part of her would still want to be on a different kind of ship. Family History o Parents Kizia (mother), Taran (father), Elvia, Katron, Luria, Melvon (Note: Like many Deltans, Kizia, Danzia's mother is part of a line marriage, where a new co-husband or co-wife is added with each generation. Taran is Danzia's biological father, but socially has no different role in her life from his co-husbands. o Siblings Keron (half-brother), also Tanron, Marla, Avria, Liron and Chara. (Note: Keron shares a mother with Danzia. The others are the children of the other women in the marriage, and are considered somewhere between 'siblings' and 'cousins')
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