Lieutenant Arnon Barak
Name Arnon Barak MD, PsyD
Position Chief Counselor
Rank Lieutenant
Character Information
| Gender | Male | |
| Species | Rigelian (Vulcanoid) | |
| Planet of Origin | Rigel V | |
| Age | 121 (As of 4/30/2293) | |
| Birth Date | April 30th 2272 | |
| Location of Quarters | A room with a view. | |
| Player (for PNPCs) | David |
Physical Appearance
| Height | 6' 2" | |
| Weight | 180lbs | |
| Hair Color | Very Dark Brown shot through with grey and silver. | |
| Eye Color | Brown | |
| Skin Color | olive | |
| Physical Description | Arnon Barak is a distinguished Vulcanoid Rigelian man in his middle years. Vulcanoids live anywhere from 200 years to the oldest recorded living 276 years. Arnon’s family tends towards longer rather than shorter lifespans. So for him 118 is, at most, upper middle age. More likely he’s barely reached middle age. He is handsome, with olive skin. His brown eyes are kind and warm and inviting. His hair is has some grey to it, which he wears well. It makes him no less attractive, possibly more so, in fact. He sometimes wears a short, neatly trimmed beard of regulation length. He wears his uniform on duty, but might take the jacket off in his office, with or without the vest underneath. | |
| Accent | Arnon speaks with a slight accent, as he learned Federation Standard as an adult and never lost his Rigelian accent. It sounds Israeli to Human ears. It is very slight. |
Family
| Spouse | ||
| Wedding Date | ||
| Children | Ist Lieutenant Carlos Rodriguez-Barak 25 SFMC Lieutenant Rhiannon O'Connor-Barak 27 Starfleet Nursing Corps |
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| Father | Johar Ental Barak | |
| Mother | Matriarch Lianna Barak of Heart’s Fire Clan | |
| Brother(s) | Many | |
| Sister(s) | Many | |
| Other Family | Heart's Fire Clan |
Personality & Traits
| General Overview | Arnon is a kind and caring man who has spent his life taking care of people as a physician, psychiatrist, and psychologist. His caretaking extends to his personal life, where he tends to take care of his friends and romantic interests as well, which either makes them feel loved and cherished or annoys them. Vulcanoid Rigelians believe in regular exercise of the entire body for optimal health. Part of a Rigelian’s regular exercise routine is regular sexual activity (which Rigelians consider it unnatural to go without), as they believe that it helps to control their turbulent Vulcanoid passions, makes them happier, and makes them heal better. In keeping with this belief physicians on Rigel V will often add sexual activity to a patient’s treatment plan. It also helps them to grow their clans. When upset or angry, most Vulcanoid Rigelians either fight or have sex. When in mourning, Rigelians typically fight until the frenzy burns the grief of their system. Vulcans control their urges by suppressing them. Romulans give in to them. Vulcanoid Rigelians expend their energies through physical exertion. Rigelians are usually superstitious numerologists, though Arnon does not follow his people’s “religion” that much anymore. |
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| Strengths & Weaknesses | STRENGTHS: Arnon is a sensory empath. He has the ability to sense the internal emotional and physical state of another person. This has been invaluable in his work as a physician and counselor, and it helps him in his efforts to be in tune with the people around him. On the flip side, he is privy to everyone’s bodily functions, which can be a bit unsettling, both for him and for those close to him. Fortunately, he is control of his abilities and, usually, he can shut everyone out unless he needs to know what is going on. Emotions he can sense without physical contact. This function of his empathy works much like a Betazoid’s. Physical condition he can get a general sense of without physical contact but to get a more specific sense of things he needs to place his hands on or over the area he is examining. Most people feel a warm, pleasant sensation when he does this. Arnon is a caring and considerate person. Arnon is a skilled and experienced Physician, Psychiatrist, and Psychologist Has become a skilled practitioner of Vulcan Neuropressure Arnon has spent a great deal of time with Starfleet and the SFMC as a Civilian Contractor, working as a Physician. In addition to what he learned in Starfleet Academy, Arnon has picked up considerable experience in this area. WEAKNESSES: He is has the ability of sensory empathy so it is conceivable that a being could use some ability to overwhelm his empathy or that he could become overwhelmed. He is well trained and has prepared and protected himself against this eventuality, but no one is perfect. |
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| Ambitions | When he is truly old and grey, he’d still like to be practicing medicine and psychiatry/psychology, maybe in a small community on his homeworld, maybe on some colony world where they are short of doctors. | |
| Hobbies & Interests | Martial Arts (mostly done for meditative and exercise purposes, though he can defend himself), exercise, he has grown fond of Andorian Blues and Bajoran Spring Wine, the outdoors (not necessarily camping, just being in an outdoor environment), Vulcan Neuropressure (learned from a Vulcan ‘friend’) | |
| Languages | Rigelian (Vulcanoid), High and Low Orion, Federation Standard, Betazoid, Vulcan; some Romulan, Klingon, and Cardassian as well. |
| Personal History | Dr. Arnon Barak was born in 2272 on Rigel V. He was the son of a favorite husband of a wealthy clan Matriarch and he was given every opportunity in life. Education to prepare him for university and medical school, something all aristocratic Rigelians aimed for, training at the Monastery at Gol, where the monks taught arts of the ancient Vulcan Mind Lords, except for telepathy, which seems to have been bred out of the Rigelian genetic code. It was at the Monastery at Gol that Arnon learned that he was had the ability of sensory empathy, that he could sense the internal emotional and physical state of other sentient beings. This skill would be of great use to his medical career. In the immediate, Arnon found it of great use in pursuing girls. Being able to sense their emotions and their bodily reactions to him made flirtation and lovemaking much easier. After completing his secondary education, Arnon proceeded medical school, where he spent six years preparing for internship and residency. After medical school, he took the risk of alienating his family by not pursuing one of the more prestigious medical fields such as nephrology, oncology, or hematology. Instead he went into his culture’s version of emergency medicine. His father was disappointed and was afraid the Matriarch would do something drastic, but Arnon was one of her favorite sons and he could do no wrong. Arnon worked for 10 years in Emergent Care, Arnon decided he was ready for a change. He applied for and was accepted into a combined Family Practice/Psychiatry residency (OOC: this is based on a Real Life program started at the University of California: Davis, in the mid-1990s, so I’m making up the impossible), which he thought would give him the perfect opportunity to use his psionic abilities and the perfect opportunity to provide the most care for a community. After completing the residency, he went to work, spending two days a week as a Psychiatrist and three days a week as a Family Physician. This went on for 25 enjoyable years. In 2340, Arnon applied for the Multi-Species Medicine Residency offered by Starfleet Medical Academy. For the first time, they were offering it to civilians. They were not requiring these civilians to join Starfleet. Those who completed the residency and did not wish to join could serve Starfleet for a period of time in a civilian capacity. Arnon was accepted and entered the program in 2341. He completed the residency in 2346, right when hostilities with the Cardassians were beginning. Arnon served for most of the Cardassian War and the things that he saw still haunt him to this day, only overshadowed by what he would later see in the Dominion War. When the Cardassian Wars began to wind down, Arnon was released from service. Eager to get away from medicine for a little while, he went off to study psychology at the University of Betazed, earning a Doctor of Psychology degree. Two years later, after completing the required number of supervised clinical hours, he could add licensed clinical psychologist to his list of achievements. During the Cardassian Wars, he became friendly with an officer named Rachel Rodriguez. They became close. They enjoyed chasing women together. Occasionally Rachel would chase Arnon or vice versa, but mainly they acted as each other’s wingman. Eventually Rachel’s fancy fell on a young officer name Shannon O’Connor. Arnon wholeheartedly encouraged Rachel to pursue her heart’s desire, even going so far as to arrange their introduction. The two women quickly fell in love, and Arnon became their closest friend, and was an honored guest at their wedding. Eventually, Rachel and Rhiannon decided that they wanted to have children. They could think of no better man to be their child’s father than Arnon and he agreed to give his seed to that end. Rachel and Rhiannon surprised him by telling him that they would rather conceive children out an act of love and that they loved him and knew that he loved them. And so it was that Arnon became the father of Carlos and Rhiannon Rodriguez-O’Conner. They were conceived on Betazed while he went to school there and their mothers kept them there until Arnon completed his Psychologist training so that he could bond with his children. He communicated with them regularly after that (and still does) and visited when he could. The two have always thought of him as their father. They both recently graduated from Starfleet Academy. When the Federation-Klingon War broke out, Starfleet Medical sent word to Arnon that his help would be welcome if he was willing. Arnon agreed to serve again, still as a civilian. Up to his elbows in blood, Arnon worked tirelessly saving lives. When the Dominion War broke out, there was no question in Arnon’s mind that he would stay on to help. The Cardassian War was bad, particularly because of its length, and the Federation-Klingon War was brutal. The Dominion War took things to a whole new level. The Jem’Hadar were like nothing Arnon had seen in over 20 years of warfare. Nothing but total destruction stopped them. They just kept coming. Waves and waves of casualties kept coming in and there were times that Arnon thought that he would drown in their blood, red, green, blue, purple, or any other color under the sun. They all began to blend together. At first they made strangely beautiful artwork on the floors and walls and scrubs of the medical staff, but after a while they just turned to a disgusting brown mush. After the Dominion War, Arnon spent two years with the Cardassian Reconstruction Mission providing medical aid to the beleaguered people of Cardassia-Prime. He stayed on Cardassia for three years providing medical and psychiatric support to the populace. Secretly, he was waiting for an answer to something from Starfleet. After an association with Starfleet that went back nearly forty years, Arnon was finally ready to take the plunge. Arnon wanted to be a Starfleet officer. He’d applied to Starfleet Academy, he’d taken the tests, and he’d had the interview, and now he was awaiting an answer. Finally, in early 2378, he got one. In the fall he was to report to Starfleet Academy as a member of the Class of 2382. Arnon’s Starfleet Academy experience was different than that of a baseline Cadet or even a brand new physician who had come to SFA from a civilian medical school. Arnon was an experience physician and counselor, and highly educated. A special course of study was developed for him. It provided him with the basics that all Starfleet officers must know (Basic Operations, Basic Engineering, Basic Flight Control, Basic Tactical Studies, Basic Security Procedures, Bridge Officer’s Course) while adding in courses from the Medical Academy and many clinical hours as both a physician and a counselor. Upon graduation in 2382, Arnon was assigned to the USS Muldoon as an Ensign/Medical Officer. He rather intimidated the CMO and ACMO due to his experience, but the CMO got over it quickly and learned to rely on him. She realized that if he did well it reflected well on her as head of the department. It took her the better part of a year to convince her ACMO and then she gave up and transferred him. Arnon was a superb medical officer and if the ACMO couldn’t take it, he would go. The CMO enjoy some Arnon’s…other charms, which didn’t hurt his case with her, but that was secondary to the fact that he was an excellent physician. On the Muldoon, Arnon took part in several medical aid missions in which he acquitted himself well. In 2384, Arnon was promoted to Lieutenant JG. He was transferred to the USS Carlyle where he would serve as a Counselor. The CMO of the Muldoon was sad to see Arnon go, but there was a hot young male nurse who’d caught her eye anyway. The Carlyle was relatively uneventful. Being the junior counselor on a large starship gave him plenty to do but allowed Arnon to be relatively anonymous. Still, getting promoted from Lieutenant JG to Lieutenant requires that you show up to work on time, sober, with your fly zipped and your shoes tied, X number of times in a row and that you have an IQ above room temperature, so in 2386 Arnon was promoted to Lieutenant and assigned to the USS Murphy as Assistant Chief Medical Officer. Following the Murphy, Arnon took up the position of Chief Counselor aboard the USS Fitzgerald, finally taking up a position that fit his level of experience. In 2390, Arnon received orders transferring him to the USS Ares to serve as Chief Counselor and to pick up shifts in Sick Bay as needed. Arnon’s time on the Ares was cut short due to an emergency leave. He has returned to assume the position of Chief Counselor aboard the USS Calypso. |
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| Education | Medical School on Rigel V Emergent Care Residency Rigel V Family Practice/Psychiatry Residency Rigel V Multi-Species Medical Residency, Starfleet Medical Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program, University of Betazed Clinical Supervision Hours for PsyD (spread out over approximately 2 years) Starfleet Academy-General Studies, Xenopsychology. |
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| Service Record | Born 2272 Rigel V 2286-2390 Secondary School 2290-2296 Medical School 2296-2298 Internship (House Officer) 2298-2301 Emergent Care Residency 2301-2311 Emergent Care Attending 2311-2316 Family Practice/Psychiatry Residency 2316-2341 Family Physician and Psychiatrist 2341-2346 Multi-Species Medical Residency, Starfleet Medical Academy (Various Sites) 2346-2366 Civilian Contractor Physician for Starfleet, Cardassian War 2366-2370 PsyD Program at University of Betazed 2370-2372 PsyD Clinical Supervision Hours 2372-2373 Civilian Contractor Physician/Counselor, Starfleet, Federation-Klingon War 2373-2375 Civilian Contractor Physician/Counselor, Starfleet, Dominion War 2375-2378 Civilian Contractor Physician/Counselor, Cardassian Recontruction 2378-2382 Starfleet Academy (Commissioning Program for Physicians) 2382-2384 Ensign, Medical Officer, USS Muldoon 2384-2386 LTJG, Counselor, USS Carlyle 2386-2388 LT, ACMO, USS Murphy 2388-2390 LT, Chief Counselor USS Fitzgerald 2390-2390 LT Chief Counselor, USS Ares 2390-2391 Called away on family emergency 2391-2391 Returns to duty, Assigned to USS Calypso as Chief Counselor 2391-Present (2393) Chief Counselor, USS Calypso |