Rear Admiral Daren Runako M'Kantu
Name Daren Runako M'Kantu
Position Chief Security Officer - 92nd Fleet
Rank Rear Admiral
Character Information
| Gender | Male | |
| Species | Human | |
| Age | 73 | |
| Birthdate | July 28th, 2320 |
Physical Appearance
| Height | 6'2 | |
| Weight | 203lbs. | |
| Hair Color | White | |
| Eye Color | Brown | |
| Physical Description | Daren Runako M'Kantu doesn't stand out in any special way but he is rather sizable for a man of his years. |
Family
| Spouse | Commander Lahia Sulil - Chief Science Officer, Watchman Station | |
| Children | First Marriage: June M'Kantu - First Wife - Civilian, ASDB's shipyards Bahiyah M'Kantu Joran M'Kantu Jonathan M'Kantu Melika M'Kantu Second Marriage: Lahia Sulil - Second Wife - Chief Science Officer, Watchman Station M'Kantu Kolaris James M'Kantu |
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| Father | Captain Dalmar M'Kantu - Retired | |
| Mother | Captain Malika M'Kantu - Retired | |
| Brother(s) | Commodore John M'Kantu - Retired | |
| Sister(s) | Rear Admiral Kalmir M'Kantu - Starbase 230 | |
| Other Family | Lt. Cmdr. Tedros M'Kantu - great-great uncle - Deceased Admiral Bahiyah M'Kantu - grandmother - Deceased Several others around |
Personality & Traits
| General Overview | M'Kantu is a self-assured and authoritative man; his confidence due to years of experience in the field and triumphs during adversity. He is not usually seen as a father/grandfather figure, which he prefers because he didn't join Starfleet to be someone else's parent. As he has only recently realized, the concept of family is very important to him, however, and was someone to become close enough to him to be considered a part of his family, he would fight to the death for them. He has a positive outlook on life and considers words like 'can’t' and 'impossible' the signs of a person who isn’t trying hard enough. This is not to say that he is an overly joyful man. He has a sense of humor but it is dry and understated. He has a rich laugh but it is not often heard. He is a fairly balanced man who can be either diplomatic or aggressive, depending on the situation. M'Kantu is fairly tolerant but will strike swiftly upon those that manage to irritate him. Known irritations include racial/alien slurs, overly cocky people, disdainful comments about Starfleet and the Federation. |
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| Strengths & Weaknesses | Strengths: He has a half-century of experience to draw upon which most simply lack. Weaknesses: He's a little too distracted by his family name and family legacy. |
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| Ambitions | To become Commander in Chief of Starfleet. Also to be a good father to his children and to be a good role model for others. | |
| Hobbies & Interests | Languages: Federation Standard, Swahili, Arabic, Klingon, Tellarite, Limited Romulan Interests and Hobbies: Soccer, SCUBA diving, piloting simulations, comparative religious studies, philosophy, and Terran impressionist art |
| Personal History | Daren Runako M'Kantu was born in 2320, in the city of Dar-es-salaam, in Tanzania on Earth. Also he is the youngest son of Captain Dalmar M'Kantu and Captain Malika M'Kantu, both now retired. He comes from a long line of career Starfleet, from an infamous great-great uncle, Lt. Cmdr. Tedros M'Kantu to renowned Admiral Bahiyah M'Kantu, his grandmother. It was apparent from an early age that Daren would follow in his family's footsteps, and he made every effort to live up to the expectations of his family. He moved directly into Starfleet Academy from high school and found that, like so many of his relatives before him, the life in Starfleet called to him. He achieved solid scores in the top 10% of his classes at the Academy, as well as in Command School immediately following that, and was assigned to the USS Repulse as a Helm Officer upon graduation. He served at the Helm aboard a succession of ships after that for the next seven years until he transferred to Tactical to give himself a broader experience base to draw on when he shifted to the Command Track. His promotion to Lieutenant Commander coincided with his marriage to fellow officer June Ellis from the Gorkon's Engineering Department, and, shortly after their transfer to the Valkyrie, the birth of their daughter, Bahiyah. Within the next few years they would go on to have three other children. The couple served together until the Battle of Wolf 359, and the destruction of the USS Yamaguchi at the hands of the Borg. For his efforts at the Battle he was awarded the Valor Cross and the Starfleet Combat Readiness Medal, awards which he wears only at ceremonial functions of a formal nature since he privately feels that he failed in not stopping the Borg and doesn’t truly deserve them. Although both they and their children survived the battle, their marriage did not. Devastated by the loss of their ship and the friends aboard it, June wanted to leave Starfleet before another battle took Daren or Bahiyah's lives as well. Daren felt that his place with Starfleet, preventing battles like the one they had just fought. Neither one could compromise, so June took their daughter and resigned her commission, taking a position as a civilian contractor with the ASDB's shipyards in the Sol system. Following the departure of his wife, Daren was promoted to Captain and offered command of one of the Ambassador-Class Explorers, the USS Valdemar. He accepted, and carried out his duties with distinction, earning the Starfleet Commendation Medal for his efforts in brokering a peace treaty between two warring cultures on the spinward fringes of the Federation that led to not only a cessation of hostilities, but both cultures being accepted into the Federation as provisional members. After six years on the Valdemar, however, the war he'd feared was eventually coming erupted when the Dominion came boiling out of the Bajoran Wormhole and allied themselves with the Cardassians. Regretfully, he requested transfer from exploration to a combat command, becoming one of the first officers to do so, determined that he would use his talents the best way he knew how to defend the Federation. He was assigned the USS Susquehanna, one of the new Akira Class warships then coming out of dock. The fact that his ex-wife had helped perfect the ship's design was a reassurance to him as he took her into battle after battle during the Dominion War, finally emerging on the other side of it with ship and crew still intact. The Breen assault on Earth was a source of worry to him, and it was only at the war's close that he was able to learn that June and Bahiyah had escaped death when June cross-wired a cobbled-together cloaking device to hide the ship containing the hastily-evacuated dependents from the ASDB yards around Jupiter. At the close of the War, he was awarded the Starfleet Achievement Medal as much for emerging with his ship and crew intact as for their undeniable contributions to battle during the War. With the signing of the treaty ending the Dominion War, Daren requested a transfer back to Exploration Command, and was offered the command of the USS Vel'dna, one of the Galaxy Class Explorers rushed into service in the waning days of the War, and only now returning to be completely fitted out. He accepted, and took the Vel'dna out on the first 5-year mission assigned in the post-War fleet. During that voyage, he again made contact with a group of warring cultures, and, lacking the time for a Diplomatic Service Team to arrive, took independent action to negotiate a cease-fire and lay the groundwork for the peace treaty and trade agreements that the cultures ultimately signed, clearing the way for a new pipeline of dilithium crystals to be opened up to the Federation, earning the UFP Council Diplomatic Shield, 2nd Class. Upon returning for the Vel'dna's refit in 2379, Daren was surprised to discover that his name was in consideration for command of the USS Galaxy, the fleet's new flagship, upon her first commander's transfer to Admiral Hoth's staff. He almost turned down the nomination, but on reflection decided that if his was the best way to serve the ideals he'd followed his entire life, then he could not refuse to meet the challenge. Tragedy struck while he was awaiting the Selection Board’s decision, making his nomination seem a hollow award. His daughter Bahiyah had fallen under the spell of a colonial raider during her sophomore year of Starfleet Academy the year before. She dropped out of the Academy soon after, much to the dismay of her parents, especially her father who wanted to continue the family tradition of serving in the Federation. She fell into the life of the renegade and was an unwilling participant in the slaughter of sixty-two civilians during the raid on Tevron VII, a raid that also claimed her life. It later came to light that Bahiyah did not activly participate in the slaughter itself but the fact that she was there was damming in itself. Ultimately, despite the circumstances of his daughter’s death, Captain M'Kantu was chosen for command of the Galaxy not because he was either power bloc's first choice - or even their fifth - but because he was the best compromise candidate that both sides could agree on. His career contained elements that both sides wanted in the flagship's commander, and if it also contained elements they each objected to, those elements were deemed within tolerable limits by the respective factions. Unknown to Starfleet, his daughter Bahiyah M'Kantu is still alive. She came to her father after the attack on Tevron VII in tears, shattered by the consequences of what she’d help do, and begged her father for help. Daren, despite his training and ideals, looked at his daughter and for the only time in his life put something ahead of Starfleet and his oath. He arranged for her to be listed as one of the casualties in that she was listed as missing rather than see her be arrested and tried for murder, a trial that would destroy not only Bahiyah’s life, but his and June’s as well. Captain M'Kantu harbors this secret with both relief and shame. He has not seen his daughter since the day he helped her escape and has no idea of her whereabouts. His service aboard the USS Galaxy was notable in that he went on to participate in several first contacts as well as stop a Borg attack on Vulcan using several rather unusual and unorthodox tactics, risking his ship, crew and himself in the process. By all accounts Darren loved his assignment to the USS Galaxy but in 2384 he was reassigned and promoted to command Starbase 16. Again he was not the first choice for the posting but he accepted it anyway as his children had informed him that as they were now in Starfleet, they would take over the mantle of their family history from him and he had done his bit for king and country. With this facts at the back of his mind, he was able to attempt to repair his relationship with his ex-wife but it didn't work. He'd simply left it too long so he found someone new and got married for the second time to a Bajoran woman named Lahia Sulil who was a Doctor. The two served together as he went from Starbase to Starbase and in early 2392, he found himself going to command Watchman Station as a Rear Admiral. This base would be more then just a simple Starbase as it would be more of a city in space and he would be the mayor of this place |
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| Service Record | Reprimands: 2348: Ensign M'Kantu reprimanded for starting a fight on Starbase 273 while on leave. 2357: Lieutenant M'Kantu disobeys a direct order and goes rogue to rescue captured officers. Education and Service Record. 2338 – 2342: Zephram Cochrane High School Starfleet Academy - Earth, SOL 2342 to 2345 - Conn / Command Student Cadet One - Four Starfleet Command School - Earth, SOL 2346 to 2348 - Command Student Ensign Starfleet Diplomatic Service’s First Contact Program - Vulcan, 40 ERIDANI A 2360 - Student Lt Commander Andorian War College’s Advanced Tactical Program - Andoria - PROCYON 2373 - Student Captain Service Record: USS Repulse - Excelsior Class 2348 to 2350 - Helmsman Ensign USS Repulse - Excelsior Class 2350 to 2352 - Helmsman Lieutenant JG USS Aries - Renaissance Class 2352 to 2355 - Helmsman Lieutenant USS Gorkon - Excelsior Class 2355 to 2358 - Chief Tactical Officer Lieutenant, USS Valkyrie - Constellation Class 2358 to 2364 - Chief Tactical Officer Lieutenant Commander USS Yamaguchi - Ambassador Class 2364 to 2366 - Executive OfficerCommander USS Valdemar - Ambassador Class 2367 to 2373 - Commanding OfficerCaptain USS Susquehanna - Akira Class 2373 to 2376 - Commanding Officer Captain USS Vel’dna - Galaxy Class 2376 to 2380 - Commanding Officer Captain USS Galaxy - Galaxy Class 2380 to 2384 - Commanding Officer Captain Starbase 16 - Ournal I Class 2384 - 2389 - Commanding Officer Commodore / Rear Admiral Starbase 73 - Ournal II Class 2389 to 2392 - Commanding Officer Rear Admiral Starbase Watchman - Celestial Class 2392 to 2393 - Commanding Officer Rear Admiral Starbase Watchman - Celestial Class 2393 to Present Day - Chief of Security for the 92nd Fleet Rear Admiral Dates of Promotions and Demotions: 2342 to 2345 - Cadet One - Four 2348 to 2350 - Ensign 2350 to 2352 - Lieutenant JG 2352 to 2358 - Lieutenant 2358 to 2364 - Lieutenant Commander 2364 to 2367 - Commander 2367 to 2384 - Captain 2384 to 2389 - Commodore 2389 to Present - Rear Admiral |