Ensign M'Kantu reprimanded for starting a fight on Starbase 273 while on leave.
Daren Runako M'Kantu 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. 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 daughter 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 the unwilling participant in the slaughter of sixty-two civilians during the raid on Tevron VII, a raid that also claimed her life.
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.
M'Kantu is self-assured man 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 were 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 fairly balanced man who can be either diplomatic or aggressive, depending upon 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 people who like Pablo Picasso.
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 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.
