Jonathan Stryker

Jonathan Stryker was discovered in 2340 when the Federation ship USS *Bidwell*, under Captain Stuart Rossi, came across a vessel of unknown origin. The ship lacked warp technology and was clearly battle-scarred and barely functioning.   It contained a large number of stasis pods, the majority of which were either empty or had failed years and years ago. The only life form that the crew of the USS *Bidwell* found onboard the strange ship was an alien infant, less than one year old (prior to being put into stasis) in one of the few still-functioning stasis pods. The infant was revived and rescued by the crew, and eventually adopted by Thomas Stryker and his wife Diana, a human couple who had recently lost their own baby.  Because of his resemblance to a humanoid version of a Terran mustelid, specifically a mink, the Federation adopted the term "musteloid" for his species. The sole musteloid known to the Federation, Jonathan has a humanoid build, a long tail, an elongated muzzle, canine-like claws and dentition (including fang-like cuspids), and a pelt of dense fur covering everything except his nosepad, inner ears, and palms, soles, and finger/toe tips.

As a civilian strategist for Starfleet who specialized in the frontier regions, Jonathan's stepfather Thomas found himself assigned to a frontier colony called New Alaska shortly after adopting the infant musteloid. The family of three lived there for several years, with Diana taking on the responsibility of raising Jonathan, since Thomas was often away on missions. The young musteloid spent much of his time exploring the forests, mountains, and glaciers of New Alaska, becoming quite adept at physical activities like hiking, rock climbing, swimming, and fishing. Growing up in a frontier colony meant that Jonathan was exposed to a wide variety of species from throughout the Federation, and as a child he had no awareness that he was unique. In fact, most of the other children that he interacted with in school and elsewhere assumed he was an odd-looking Caitian. The full details of his mysterious background were only revealed to him as he approached his teens. While he’d always had an interest in exploring space, thanks to the stories his adoptive father would bring back in-between missions, the knowledge of his unknown heritage convinced him to join Starfleet, with the possibility of discovering more about his species and their homeworld becoming an obsession during his teenage years.

Tragically, his adoptive mother Diana passed away in a vehicular accident while Jonathan was a teenager, and he found himself largely left on his own, with only infrequent visits from his father. This “abandonment” (as he viewed it at the time) created some resentment toward Thomas, as well as the nagging feeling that, had he been human like his parents, his father would have taken a more active role in his life.  As a result of these teenage feelings, Jonathan became very competitive and pushed himself relentlessly in school and other aspects of his life.

## Starfleet Career

### Starfleet Academy

Jonathan's ambition and competitiveness served him well when he entered Starfleet Academy in 2358, and he graduated in 2361 in the top ten percent of his class. His goal was to become a captain by the age of 35, which in his young mind would both impress his estranged father and give him more freedom to actively explore deep space in search of any clues as to his heritage.

### Early postings and assignments

Less than a year after graduation, Jonathan’s first posting was to the USS *Ventura* under the command of Captain Charles Redding, where he served as the ship’s conn officer. His service aboard this ship was exemplary, with the young officer displaying a very strong sense of loyalty and obedience (though his commanding officer noted a definite stubborn streak in the ensign). In 2365, he was promoted to lieutenant junior grade and served in the operations division aboard the USS *Davis* under the command of Captain Robert Shaver. It was aboard this ship that he developed an interest in poker, with the goal of ingratiating himself with the senior officers by joining their games.

The following year, the USS *Davis* joined the fleet of over 40 Federation ships under the command of Admiral J.P. Hanson in the ill-fated Battle of Wolf 359 against the Borg.  The USS *Davis* did not survive the massacre, and Stryker was the lone survivor, having been put into an escape pod by a fellow officer before the ship was destroyed. For the first time in his Starfleet career, Stryker suffered through the loss of multiple crewmates (not to mention the ship). This loss devastated the young officer and he decided to take some time off of starship duty to work through the grief. During this period he was stationed on Starbase 32 as a lieutenant (operations), where he met Oodle, a young Ferengi with a talent for programming. The two became fast friends, with both seeing themselves as misfits of a sort, and when Oodle’s father sold his son’s business, Stryker suggested that perhaps Oodle should consider a career in Starfleet.  As a member of a non-Federation race, the Ferengi needed a Starfleet officer to sponsor his entry into the Academy – which Stryker happily provided.

In 2368, Stryker’s desire to explore and potentially discover more about his race once again got the better of him and he joined USS *Lassen* under Captain Hayward as lieutenant commander and second officer.

### USS *Odyssey*

In 2371, Stryker received an offer to join a newly minted Intrepid-class ship, the USS *Odyssey*, as executive officer. He gladly accepted the offer to serve under Captain Joshua Edson as first officer, and was pleasantly surprised to find that Ensign Oodle, having recently graduated from Starfleet Academy, was stationed on the same ship.

Shortly after the first mission, which involved the successful rescue of a ship that had been manipulated into entering the Romulan Neutral Zone, Captain Edson received a promotion to Admiral. His replacement, Captain Blue, proved to be unfit for the role and Stryker relieved her of duty during a mission to Optera IV, after which she faced a court martial for breaking a Starfleet directive. Stryker took over as acting captain and in this capacity, engaged in first contact with two species, the insectoid Opterans and humanoid Kavians, and helped negotiate a peaceful resolution of a conflict between the races.

In spite of Admiral Edson expressing faith in Stryker's ability to command his own ship, other members of Starfleet Command felt that the musteloid was still too inexperienced, and M'Kueo Cur'Tarn, a Caitian, became the third captain of the *Odyssey* in as many weeks. The crew's second mission under Captain Cur'Tarn proved disastrous when a Borg sphere found the *Odyssey*. Under the guidance of the ship's Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Warnock, the *Odyssey* fled to the site of an incredibly powerful secret weapon, the Star Spreader. The Star Spreader successfully defeated the Borg sphere, but the massive shockwave forced the *Odyssey* to crash land on a nearby planet. The ship was destroyed and many members of the crew died in the crash, including Captain Cur'Tarn and Lieutenant Warnock.

### USS *Arcturus*

After the destruction of the USS *Odyssey*, Stryker and the majority of the surviving crew transferred to the USS *Arcturus*, a Nebula-class ship assigned to an exploration of the Shackleton Expanse. Stryker maintained his position as first officer, under the command of Captain Vira Kol. The crew's first mission, locating a missing civilian Federation vessel, resulted in the discovery of Orgun III, a planet on the verge of self-destruction. The crew of the *Arcturus* took the controversial action of evacuating a large portion of the planet's pre-warp native species, the Lormeans, to save them from certain extinction. This mission provided Stryker with potential evidence of his species' origins in the form of an ancient text discovered in a cavern on Orgun III that contained mention of a DNA code strikingly similar to his.

Following Captain Kol's controversial actions on Orgun III, the crew of the Arcturus, under the orders of Admiral April Hebert, found themselves embroiled in a covert investigation into the resurgence of a Klingon augment virus modified to affect other species as well. What started out as an unofficial mission of mercy to the Klingon colony Ur'Karth resulted in the discovery of Romulan experimentation on a species encountered during the Orgun mission, a sentient, biomechanical vessel called Incerti ("unknown") by the crew of the *Arcturus*. Thanks to Stryker's sensitivity to pheromones, he was able to communicate with the trapped Incerti.

## Interests and hobbies

Stryker has an unusually fast metabolism for a humanoid species, and likes to keep himself active. He particularly likes outdoor activities like hiking, rock climbing, and especially swimming, for which his species seems well-adapted, with a thick pelt of fur that repels water and webbing between the fingers and toes. While very little is known about musteloids, Stryker's physiology suggests that the species descended from a predatory, hypercarnivorous ancestor; he retains many predatory instincts, which he satisfies through activities like hunting and fishing.

Stryker is also an avid poker player. Other hobbies of his include playing various musical instruments, particularly the saxophone and piano, although he does not consider himself to be particularly skilled.