Ortees Sharad was a chan or thaan Andorian who served as an officer in the Federation Starfleet in the 24th century.
History
By 2370 he had attained the rank of Commander, and worked as an analyst in Starfleet Intelligence.
Sharad in Ten Forward on the USS Enterprise
Sharad's family, on all four sides, had a five-generation tradition of serving in the Andorian Imperial Guard, although by the 24th century Sharad, and some other members of his family, also proudly served in Starfleet. In 2370, upon analysing communications from his old friend Thrynn, he deduced that she had joined the True Heirs of Andor; a renegade separatist group that sought to have the Andorian Empire withdrawn from the Federation. Seeing this traditionalist and isolationist group's growing momentum as a threat to both Andoria (which he felt could not stand as strong alone as it could within the Federation) and the Federation (which having only recently survived conflicts with the Cardassians and the Borg, and with new issues with the Maquis and the Dominion on the horizon, did not need the distraction of Andoria pulling out of the federacy). Sharad decided to use some of his long-postponed leave time, and took it upon himself to travel back to Andoria; hoping to infiltrate the group via Thrynn, and then assassinate its leader, General Kovan, thereby decapitating the organization's leadership and nullifying its threat.
Sharad took passage to Andoria on the USS Enterprise, which was travelling to Andoria on a similar mission; Captain Picard had been tasked with applying leverage to the Andorian Chancellor to get Andoria to take a more active role in Federation activities. Sharad spent most the journey on his own; taking advantage of the Enterprise's "outstanding" fitness and combat holodeck programs. During in the journey, while in Ten Forward, Counselor Troi approached Sharad; concerned having noted his lack of interaction with others. The encounter started out amicably, but soon degraded as Sharad revealed the stresses of his burden of knowledge; knowing, as an intelligence analyst, the numerous dangers the Federation faced. Sharad ended the conversation with fist hammer to the table to punctuate his frustrations and then left Ten Forward to make preparations for his arrival on Andoria.
Sharad arrives on Andoria
Sharad's arrival was not a warm one; the first people he encountered were instantly confrontation upon seeing his Starfleet uniform; labelling him a fade, a derogatory term used to refer to Andorians not considered Andorian enough. Before the encounter became too hostile Sharad's brother, and Imperial Guardsman, Trajun, arrived and put the three other Andorians in their place.
Sharad and Trajun then went to their family home, where Sharad enjoyed a meal, including his favorites, redbat and tubers, with his family. The political situation on Andoria was an initial talking point over the meal, but the discussion soon switched to Sharad's romantic interests, prompting Sharad to make a swift exist to avoid any further embarrassment.
Sharad waking up in a cell
Sharad spent the rest of the evening in a bar with Thrynn where, as he feared, her political views became abundantly clear. Sharad wasn't afraid to voice his own opinions; provoking disapproving looks from the bar's other patrons, and eventually pushing Thrynn to suggest they move on to another location, to meet some "friends" of hers. As they got to the meeting point, where a gang of Andorians awaited, Thrynn punched Sharad in the back of the neck, knocking him out.
Sharad and Kovan in the ushaan duel
Sharad awoke to find himself in a cell, a captive of Thrynn, who was a unit commander in the True Heirs of Andor. His capture had been approved by General Kovan himself, who soon made himself known. Thrynn had hoped to persuade Sharad to join the True Heirs, but with Sharad's position made clear Kovan instead hoped to extract information from him; both knowledge of Starfleet Intelligence, and any incites he might have had into the Enterprise's mission on Andoria. As Kovan took Sharad to be questioned the Starfleet officer suggested the very idea he would give up such information was an insult to his honor, and issued a ushaan challenge; a traditional Andorian fight to the death. Goaded by Sharad, Kovan accepted, despite realizing before the start of the fight that he had been manipulated; Kovan would either by killed, removing the True heir's leader, or Sharad would be; losing Kovan any intelligence he could of extracted. Kovan's over-confidence satisfied his logic; that Sharad's information was worth less than his own life, and that he would surely win the duel.
Sharad stands ready to meet his fate
Kovan was wrong. His initial attack left a bloody gash in Sharad's stomach, but in the end his maneuvers were inferior; Sharad pulled the general in, and embedded his blade in Kovan's back, killing him.
His objective achieved Sharad revealed to Thrynn how he had planned it from the start; how he believed the True Heirs were a danger to Andoria and the Federation; and how by killing Kovan the group would surely crumble. Thyrnn declared she would take the information from Sharad Kovan had sought, and use it to strike at Starfleet until Andoria was set free. But Sharad had no intension of being taken alive: "I have done what I set out to do by cunning and skill, passion and honor. I am a true Andorian and I am prepared to die! Are you?" (TNG comic: "Andorians: The Old Ways")
- Sharad is last seen completely surrounded by members of the True Heirs of Andor, standing ready to fight. His final fate however is not revealed.
| This is a Featured Article |
|---|
| We believe it to be one of the best examples of the Memory Beta community's work. Even so, if you see a way this page can be improved even further, we invite you to contribute. Please go to the Nominations for Featured Articles page to discuss any other pages you feel deserve recognition. |