Lieutenant Palabra Suder
Name Palabra Suder
Position Chief Intelligence Officer
Rank Lieutenant
Character Information
| Gender | Female | |
| Species | Betazoid | |
| Age | 34 |
Physical Appearance
| Height | 170cm | |
| Weight | 50kg | |
| Hair Color | Brunette | |
| Eye Color | Black | |
| Physical Description | Although she is pretty, Palabra makes a point of not drawing attention to herself. Even when not on duty she is usually to be found in uniform, long hair tied back and she rarely wears ornate make-up or jewelry. She is a natural blonde, but colours her hair dark brown. After several years spent on undercover assignment, she is very careful about the way she is presented and is always well groomed. However this care sometimes comes off as cool disinterest and she is not someone who draws people to her. |
Family
| Spouse | Gamron Venik (assigned Deep Space 4) | |
| Father | Faran Suder | |
| Mother | Teranna Suder | |
| Brother(s) | Lon Suder (deceased) |
Personality & Traits
| General Overview | Palabra is the sort of person that is easily overlooked and this is something she takes advantage of. She is very observant, but quiet and when she does speak she usually has something important to say. Because of this, many people take her to be more intelligent than she really is. She is almost stoic in her presentation and is very careful in what she says, sometimes resorting to half-truths or omitting details if honesty is not entirely necessary. Well aware that intelligence officers are not the sort to draw easy trust from other departments, she is not one to force the issue, preferring to use other means to draw information than trying to convince others that she is worthy of their trust. | |
| Strengths & Weaknesses | Strengths: Palabra excels in her position in intelligence and she is observant, analytical and good at reading people, which are all enhanced by her natural empathic and telepathic abilities. Although she does not hide these abilities, she is reticent about revealing the extent of them, often using others’ perceptions of her species to extract more information than they would usually provide. She is good at keeping a cool head in a crisis and can make decisions quickly and rationally. Although not an excessively skilled combatant, she can certainly hold her own in a fight. Weaknesses: She presents herself as excessively controlled and this certainly does not attract easy friendships or trust from her co-workers. She is sometimes unintentionally dishonest and does not open up easily. She does not speak unless confident that what she has to say is important, which has been a source of frustration to previous COs. She is not particularly creative, although she respects the arts immensely. |
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| Ambitions | She would like to one day complete a PhD in Anthropology and to make peace with the memory of her brother. Otherwise she is incredibly satisfied in her position and would like nothing more than to continue working in Starfleet Intelligence. | |
| Hobbies & Interests | Palabra has few interests outside her work. She loves human opera and often listens to it while working. She is not overly athletic, but does enjoy yoga and basic martial arts. She loves the outdoors and when she does have spare-time can often be found hiking or climbing on the holodeck. She has always been fascinated with human culture and tries to keep up on the latest anthropological research, although this is often neglected. She is open to new experiences, although does not often get the opportunity to try anything new. | |
| Languages | Federation Standard, Vulcan, Ancient Betazoid |
| Personal History | The youngest of two siblings, Palabra was born into a happy home in the heart of the Betazed capital. Kind and attentive, her parents made a point of giving their children a happy home, encouraging their burgeoning interests and pushing them to explore the world around them. From an early age, Palabra was fascinated with her older brother, Lon. Six years older than her, she worshipped him, following him everywhere and mimicking everything he did, both good and bad. Despite Lon’s problems with anger, issues which manifested themselves at a very young age, the familial affection between siblings was mutual, and he did all he could to protect his sister and act as a role model for her. When his mental abilities failed to develop in his teens, the two grew even closer, Lon tying himself to the only person in the family who could understand this lack of ability, as she was too young to have developed it herself. Led by her brother, they increasingly spent time away from the cities of Betazed, hiking, camping and spending much of their times in the isolation of nature. Little did either Palabra or their parents realise the cause of Lon’s desire for isolation, not a love of nature, but a fear of his own violent tendencies. It was when Palabra’s mental abilities began developing normally in her early teens that Lon’s violent nature began to show itself and where he had previously shown her nothing but love and affection, he was increasingly angry and violent towards her. In a society where it was hard to keep secrets, Palabra refused to betray her brother and instead hid her burgeoning talents as best she could from their parents in order to keep his secret as well. Her devotion to him was something that he was clearly torn about and he was variously angry and violent, or kind and loving toward her. When Palabra was fifteen, Lon made the decision to depart Betazed and the young woman was left confused and alone, but finally able to begin exploring her own interests, rather than continuing to be defined by her brother. At last she allowed her mental abilities manifest themselves to others and she turned her attention to her own interests, anthropology, history and linguistics. Although she would always continue to be secretive and quiet, she did begin to make friends outside her family and explore and enjoy the pleasures of their racial telepathy. After high school, Palabra did not even consider joining Starfleet, instead deciding to study anthropology at the local university where she excelled in her studies. In 2374, when the Dominion invaded Betazed, it was a rough awakening for not only Palabra, but for many of her people. Never having left the planet, she was unaccustomed to seeing so many off-worlders, especially those carrying guns through the streets of her home. When a resistance was mounted, Palabra, along with many in the student population, immediately joined and helped to expel the invaders from her homeworld. Although she went on to complete a degree in anthropology, her experience with non-telepaths began pushing her interests away from those of her own cultural heritage and to their interaction with other races. Specifically, she was more than aware of the risk of future invasion and that she was obligated to use her unique abilities to protect their planet from danger. In her final year she began interacting more with the local Starfleet contingents, befriending off-worlders and exploring her telepathic and empathic abilities. While finishing her degree, Palabra applied to Starfleet academy and with her qualifications was accepted to begin study the following year. Intelligence was the obvious choice for Palabra and she never questioned her decision to specialize. However, although her aptitude for the subject allowed her to excel at the academy, it took her some time to find her niche socially. Although she had interacted with non-telepaths before, this was the first time when she was often the only telepath among a crowd and it was a lot to adjust to. By the time she graduated three years later, she had managed to build up a small but tight network of friends, entirely composed of intelligence officers who would prove to be invaluable connections later in her career. It was while she was at the Academy that news of her brother’s actions on the USS Voyager and his subsequent death reached her family. She had been out of touch with her brother since his departure years earlier and had not even been aware that he had joined the Maquis. Although she was offered counseling, she did not take the opportunity and threw herself into her work. She has tried to come to terms with her feelings on her own both about the brother she knew and about what he did on and for Voyager, but it is still a point of conflict that she has not come to peace with. The details of her post-Academy assignments have been classified. |
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| Service Record | 2371-2375 – Bachelor of Anthropology, University of Betazed 2375 – Entry Starfleet Academy 2378 – Assignment Starfleet Intelligence, Earth 2380 – Undercover Assignment 2384 – Assignment Deep Space 4, Assistant Chief Intelligence Officer 2387 - Assignment Chief Intelligence Officer, Starbase 332 |