Daman Zodd

## History

Zodd was born on Bolarus IX in the year 2321. He was raised in a wealthy family with a very poor attitude against the poor. Zodd resented this attitude and left home to make a name for himself in Starfleet. Zodd has two younger brothers named Chell and Koss. His brother Chell followed behind once he was of age. Koss stayed behind, following his family's ideals. This drove a wedge between him and his brothers. Zodd's early days in Starfleet Academy were spent strictly on his studies. He excelled in Starship piloting, engineering and leadership. He focused on honing in his team skills, and was often picked to head squadrons on training missions. He felt that he had a direction and a purpose in Starfleet. He also captained a hand-to-hand combat training club, that often fought with weapons of different cultures. His favorite were always Klingon weapons.

Once commissioned as an Ensign, Zodd served on the USS Chicago as a helmsman. During this time, he kept in contact with his brother Chell often. They spoke about his retirement plan, to open a restaurant with Chell. Chell excelled at cooking at a very young age. Zodd desired to run front of house and put his leadership and charisma to good use. He stayed on the USS Chicago for 4 years as an ensign, and had a glowing service record. He was given night command during his second year, after showing he could handle stressful situations by navigating them through a minefield with ease. He was soon promoted to Lt. Junior Grade and was given a commission on the USS Horatio. While on the Horatio, he had the opportunity to meet Worf. This furthered his interest in Klingon culture. Worf gave him some holodeck programs to hone his combat skills. He worked as a navigation officer on the Horatio for only a few months until he was transferred to the USS Renegade, where he spent most of his tenure as a Starfleet Officer. Beginning as a Lt. Junior Grade, after 5 years he was promoted to Lieutenant. Zodd moved to engineering, and spent several years maintaining the warp drive of the Renegade. After losing their Chief Security Officer in 2359, Zodd moved to command track as Lt. Commander and Chief of Security of the Renegade. It was a natural decision, after witnessing his incredible talent for team dynamics and his knowledge of the ships inner workings - both mechanical and biological.

Zodd worked his way up to the level of Commander on the Renegade, and was given the position of First Officer in 2362. He often took over command of away missions, and sometimes the ship itself in the Captain's absence and did an admirable job. By 2366, Zodd was slated to receive the next command position that became available. This changed in early 2367, after the Battle of Wolf 359. The Renegade was too far away to assist in Battle and Zodd read the news of many previous comrade's and friends from the academy who were killed in this atrocity, from a distance. To this day, the pain he experienced at this time, and the guilt he had over not fighting and dying by their sides still haunts him. Zodd took on the first name of Daman in honor of his mentor; Commander Daman Atilias, whom he had served on the USS Chicago with. Zodd continued to excel in his position on the Renegade, and he agreed to stay in his position on the Renegade until Starfleet took stock and began to rebuild it's fleet.

While Zodd was serving on the Renegade, his brother Chell enlisted in the academy. He dropped out after the first year and took residence on the planet New Kov as a federation civilian. As the Federation got more friendly with the Cardassians and ceded to allowing the demilitarized zone, Chell turned to life as a Maquis in the year 2370. After his brother was named as a traitor, Zodd was immediately dropped from consideration from any captaincy positions. Some admirals that he was more friendly with were honest with him. Others refused to talk to him completely. Starfleet was in a very untrusting place, and Zodd's career was an unfortunate side affect of this.

Despite his brother's betrayal, Zodd remembers him fondly and often wonders if he is okay. He thinks fondly on the memories of his retirement plan with Chell and hopes that if one day he does create the restaurant, Chell will find him. Not knowing where his brother is, or if he is okay, is slowly eating away at him.

## USS Nightingale

In 2371, the Renegade was asked to rendezvous with the USS Nightingale, USS Calypso and the USS Excalibur after the disappearance of the USS Voyager in the Badlands. During the search, the Romulan Warbird Carax decloaked. The ships were able to stand up to the warbird, however the Renegade was severely damaged. The USS Nightingale was a medical relief vessel. Zodd and several other crew from the Renegade, including Nurse Nelle and Lt. Kuzon, transported aboard the USS Nightingale for assistance. The USS Renegade made arrangements to meet again with the USS Nightingale at Deep Space 9 to receive repairs.

After the departure of the other ships, the USS Nightingale investigated strange sensor readings in the area, and inadvertently ran into a Romulan listening post. The destruction of the listening post created an artificial wormhole, and the crew of the Nightingale and Commander Zodd found themselves in the far reaches of the Beta Quadrant in the Shackleton Expanse. Zodd took over as the ship's first officer, as the current first officer was better equipped to serve as the ship's doctor.

Zodd served as Acting Captain Aldrin's advisor for several months. He helped facilitate a first contact situation between the Federation and the Kierans. As tensions with the Klingons raised and the signs of war began, Zodd began to question his motivations for staying in Starfleet, knowing that he will never receive his own command. He begins to consider retirement, and remains on board only due to some inspiring words from Aldrin. When Aldrin went on a secret mission, he left Zodd in command of the USS Nightingale. The familiar feeling of taking command was at first, very comforting to Zodd and he commanded the ship successfully through and encounter with the Dolreans. Though, he barely got the ship away safely and he was forced to leave his away mission on the planet. Zodd viewed this as a catastrophic failure, and seeds of doubt began to sprout in his mind. He felt with his confused emotional state, he was no longer fit to command the vessel and transferred his command codes to Doctor McHenry.

After Aldrin awoke, Zodd leaned into a new position of Chief Security Officer. He worked closely with Lt. Commander Reshi Prell on an investigation to look for a saboteur in Engineering aboard the Nightingale. While fruitless, it helped spark some feeling of usefulness within Zodd. Later, the crew learns of Ensign Jaime Ramerez's disappearance from Narendra Station. He immediately supports an insurrection to find Ramerez and liberate Narendra Station from the Klingons - even before it is suggested by the Acting Captain.