Lieutenant (JG) Hayley Caden…

Introduction

A Starfleet officer who requested a leave of absence to search for information on her father’s death, Hayley Caden returned to Starfleet as the Hiroshima’s Chief of Operations.

Family

Aric Caden – Father. Irish. Half human, half Klingon. Commands a Nova Class frigate, SS Waverider. He carried the proud traditions of his Irish and Klingon ancestors. Chancellor Gowron did not recognize him as Klingon. Serving onboard the SS Waverider as captain, he stayed far from Klingon politics. Mara of the house of Shek’Mqor, his oldest living aunt, kept him company.

• Last living descendant of Mac Cadáin. Small, not known, but a significant part of Hayley’s Irish heritage. Her father named her Devon, claiming their family lineage traces back to the Duke of Devonshire. The name Caden is rich with history, tracing as far as the year 1014.

• Died 2382. Ashes sent to Hayley along with a warning.

• During a routine cargo transport run, he transported a group of refugees fleeing the Cardassians during the border wars (2347-56). He met his wife, a Betazoid named Maya Hagen. Maya and Aric married onboard the SS Waverider. Her youngest son, Tam Hagen, was a newborn. They remained onboard the Waverider as she became the ship’s medical officer. Several months later, she was pregnant. They returned to Earth, where Hayley was born in Aric’s hometown.

Mara – Klingon. Great aunt of the House of Shek’mqor. Historian and science officer onboard the SS Waverider. Hayley’s godmother and caretaker since her birth. Died 2385.

Tam Hagen – Full Betazoid. Half brother. Was five when Hayley was born. Significant part of Hayley’s growth as she navigated her life on Earth and the SS Waverider. Maya and Tam vanished in 2380s along with the crew of the SS Waverider. Presumed MIA.

Kassandra Nikolaou – Human. Greek. Former Maquis. Orphaned 2371 when Cardassians attacked a Maquis colony. About Hayley’s age when Aric found an orphaned child in the ruins of a home. Adopted and raised her onboard the SS Waverider. Hayley and Kass were close. Inseparable. Joined the Fenris Rangers in 2380s. MIA at Stardate 2393. Presumed dead.

Character History

Born in the small coastal town of Strandhill, Ireland, with occasional surfing opportunities, Hayley grew up in a small family that isolated themselves from the rowdy politics of Betazed. As part Betazoid, Hayley felt ostracized from participating in local events in her father’s hometown. Family was everything to her. Some locals had trust issues with empaths, especially Betazoids and Vulcans. Born on Stardate 2363 on Earth, she spent the next five years growing up and adjusting to the school there. However, she had trouble with her studies, and the locals were slowly becoming problematic, especially towards Aric’s family.

On Stardate 2368, duty called her father back to space. To avoid family drama, he took them along and raised Hayley onboard the old, recommissioned Nova-class frigate, SS Waverider. Since it was Hayley’s first time in space, she became excited at the prospect of exploring the cosmos while being homeschooled by her mother, Maya, and her godmother, Mara. Her father took turns instructing Hayley in engineering as she grew older. She learned everything there was to know about how to operate a Starfleet vessel, including piloting, scanning, and operations.

During Stardate 2370-73, the Waverider crew found themselves in the middle of trouble as the Maquis started brewing. They navigated cautiously while transporting cargo. During a routine run, they ran across a destroyed Maquis colony. Among the ruins, Aric found a child no older than ten. Her name was Kassandra Nikolaou. They rescued her. Hayley greeted her first because Kass appeared scared and confused. Soon as they met, they became close. Aric couldn’t separate them, so he adopted Kass as part of the Caden family. Since then, they were the troublemakers onboard the frigate.

During the years between 2373-2379, both Hayley and Kass learned at their own pace as the Waverider continued their adventures. Eventually, the Waverider dropped them off at Starfleet Academy to continue their studies and graduate. For the next four years, Hayley learned about engineering, warp theory, operations, piloting and communications while Kass learned security and tactical. However, at the end of four years of Starfleet Academy, only Hayley passed and graduated.

At stardate 2383, Kass announced she joined the Fenris Rangers. It created a rift between the two sisters as Hayley felt betrayed. To make matters worse, they both received reports that the SS Waverider vanished along the Romulan border with rumors stating that Hirogen raiders boarded and destroyed the frigate. Hayley received her father’s ashes via transport along with a dire warning not to investigate. He died the day Hayley graduated.

A year later, Hayley joined the Akira class, USS New Zealand, as its new engineer officer. For the next several years, she maintained the engines and repaired consoles while searching the galaxy for information on her missing family. At stardate 2385, Mara sent for her grandchildren to attend her funeral as she prepped herself for the journey to Sto’Vo’Kor. Hayley sent a secret message to her estranged sister, Kass, to be her plus one or don’t come at all. They reunited on Qo’Nos and tended to Mara as they watched her slowly die to an old age sickness. It brought them together again as they mourned and celebrated Mara’s honorable death.

During the wake party, Kass promised Hayley that she would look for their missing Waverider. Hayley returned to the New Zealand and several years later, Kass revealed that she might have found a trace, but Hayley had to leave Starfleet. Hayley requested a leave of absence from Starfleet to become a Fenris Ranger under the tutelage of Kass. For the next five years, Kass and Hayley hunted side by side for their family. Each had a call sign. Hayley was Hunter Devon while Kass was Athena Sparta.

Something happened a couple years later on 2393 when a passing starfleet vessel found Hayley unconscious and half dead in her spinning Fenris Ranger derelict. The USS Tamkin found her subspace distress signal and brought her derelict ship to a nearby starbase where emergency medical crew rushed to save her. She was in coma for a year until miraculously, she woke up. However, she went through trauma that she couldn’t remember what happened that caused her fighter to be damaged. Someone erased all records onboard her fighter.

Confused and lost, Hayley spent the next six months under medical care on Earth to recuperate from her injuries. Starfleet approved her request to return to service and assigned her to the USS Hiroshima.

Personality

Growing up, Hayley struggled with the darkness inside her. It grew and gnawed at her psyche. Because of her apparent inability to handle her empathic abilities, she avoided people. She didn’t hate people. They bothered her mentally. She had several Betazoid counselors during her growing years who helped grow and mold her and her brother’s telepathic empathic abilities. Kass was the only one that Hayley found easy to talk to.

• Telepathic Status: T2/E4
• Sexual Orientation: Bisexual
• Hobbies include surfing, free climbing (rock climbing with hands and strength and some ropes), calisthenics, martial arts, running, horse riding.
• Likes tattoos (gets one once every three years), dogs, exploring the unknown, reading Surak’s teachings (It somehow calms her down)
• Dislikes Failure (or losing), Confined places, darkness, too much partying or people yelling unless she’s drunk (its hard on her empathic senses)
• Strength includes being focused, passionate, creative, agility or motivation, survival instincts and being an introvert. (even as a part Betazoid who’s usually social creatures, Hayley’s a complete opposite.)
• Weaknesses include social anxiety, depression, her empathy (she shuts down when overwhelmed by others mentally. She takes meds for those.
• Her perks includes being ambidextrous, but prefers her dominant right hand.
• Temperament – When passionate, it causes her to become angry when something doesn’t go her way. She snaps and withdraws to her own shell to recollect. Otherwise, she can make friends easily as needed. With a small circle of friends, anything can happen.

Appearance

Human/Betazoid/Klingon.

Small, barely visible cranial ridges on forehead.

5’7”, 155 lbs (70 kg)

Well-built, athletic.

Natural black eyes. Uses sea-green contacts for eyes to “fit in”.

Ginger hair. Either tied back into a bun or long braid over the shoulder on the left side.

Has several tattoos, including an older tattoo containing the McCadden Coat of Arms. Other tattoo was a Fenris Ranger emblem.

Languages spoken

Federation Standard, Scottish Gaelic, French, Klingon, Vulcan and some Cardassian.