<div class="floatright">(http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb440/Khadavla/Rondon.jpg)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Dafed Rondon<br/><strong>Age:</strong>30<br/><strong>Race:</strong>Zaldan<br/><strong>Role/Rank:</strong>Executive Officer<br/><strong>Personality:</strong>Dafed Rondon abhors dishonesty.  What other races consider common courtesy strikes him on a fundamental level as potentially aggressive obfuscation.<br/>In spite of this fact, Rondon is open-minded to the point of being a confessed xenopheliac.  Women of many species have felt his admiring glances.  He is not hesitant to tell a woman what he finds attractive about them.  Unfortunately, his sense of honestly compels him to be equally frank about their blemishes.<br/>He is direct man, with an honest smile and a harsh scowl.  Though dedicated to Starfleet ideals of peace and discovery, he enjoys physical confrontation as much as intellectual challenges.  He will happily tackle a disruptor wielding Jem Hadar and use him as a living shield against his fellow’s fire.<br/>What Rondon misses the most about his homeworld is the ocean.<br/><br/><strong>Background:</strong>Despite what other people’s consider the Zaldan’s aggressive personalities, their worlds islands have some of the most beautiful beaches in Federation space.  With most industry taking place on artificial islands or undersea domes, the Zaldan homeworld has a small but thriving tourist industry.<br/>Dafed was born to a family who worked in this industry.  As a young man, he was exposed as much to other cultures as to his own.  His first love was a feline woman of the Regulan people, and his second was an Andorian.<br/>By seventeen he knew that—if for no other reason than his own xenophelia—he was destined for Star Fleet.  Coming of age, he took his second name—Rondon—in honor of Captain Rondon of the Federation Starship Ja’tor.  (Captain Rondon has recently retired from active service and taken a full time position at Starfleet Academy.)<br/>Though dedicated to his schooling, Dafid Rondon worked throughout his teens taking tourists diving and snorkeling.  An avid swimmer among his people, he was known for holding his breath for 20 minutes at a time with minimal strain.<br/>Graduating from the academy on the command track at age 23, Rondon is particularly skilled at space science and Starfleet Self defense.  Even when facing such physically formidable opponents as Gorn and Klingons, he prefers unarmed combat to phasers.  Indeed, he is a passing marksman at best.<br/>Rondon entered the dominion war as a Lieutenant.  His tactical knowledge, intellect, and physical abilities were pushed to their limits.  He claims particular admiration for the Klingons and the Breen as adversaries, the Gem Hedar he calls ‘skilled and persistent but predictable.”  Romulans, with their particular skill at obfuscation, give him a headache.<br/><br/><strong>Zaldans</strong>:  Abrasive, direct, and honest to a fault with their allies, Zaldans are not well versed in diplomacy.  They actually hire vulcans to represent them in most galactic affairs.<br/>However, Zaldans are taller, thicker, and stronger than the human norm.  They are also substantially more resilient—particularly against toxins.  They can handle near freezing temperatures with minimal discomfort and survive the vacuum of space twice as long as a human.<br/>Recognizable by their webbed fingers and toes and a subtle nictating membrane, Zaldans are quite comfortable in salt water.  Spending 15 minutes at a time is normal for modern Zaldan.  Fossil records suggest their primordial ancestors could stay under water as long as a Teran dolphin.<br/>