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Hosted by
Robert Rhodes
at Aloha Daze |
Age:
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11 Earth Standard Years (ESY)
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Home:
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Andromeda
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Height:
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5'4" (Alien/Earth Standard)
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Weight:
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200 lbs.
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Hair:
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Bl
<
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Eyes:
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Blue
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Birthday:
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386th hatchling of the cycle
(Earth Standard Year 2250)
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Traits/Abilities:
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Radu's spiral ears give him super-sensitive hearing. This is a great
asset, but can also cause him much discomfort if things get a bit loud. His
extraordinary sense of hearing gives him a superb sense of balance. Combined
with his high molecular density, he is extremely difficult to shake up or
knock down. Radu's compact structure also makes him as strong as
approximately ten Earthers, able to lift in excess of eight hundred pounds
with ease. This molecular configuration is also responsible for Radu's long
hair...it is just too difficult to cut, so Andromedans don't bother. As with
all members of his race, Radu possesses low-level psionic powers. This gives
him a finely-tuned sense of direction. He always knows where he is and never
gets lost. In addition, he is able to "hear" the thoughts of native
Andromedan animals (such as gerkels), and is also able to receive "messages"
from other psionics, like Elmira.
Andromedans have a very different internal structure than humans. While,
unlike many humanoid races, their body temperature is close to Earth-normal
98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, Andromedans possess an internal atmosphere, complete
with a personal barometric pressure. When ill, Radu has exhibited disruptions
in this atmosphere by either venting snow (falling barometric pressure) or
steam (rising pressure) from his ears. He's also been known to produce
thunder on occasion. Andromedans also bounce and vent steam from their ears
when they need to match their internal atmosphere to that of their
surroundings.
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Background Information:
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Radu is from a race formerly at war with Earth and its allies in the
United Populated Planets (UPP).When the Andromedans left their
war-devestated galaxy to travel to the Milky Way (our galaxy, nearest to
their own), they came in a number of ships or space arks. One of the ships
contained the Andromedan hatchery. Unfortunately, putting their entire brood
in a single ship proved to be a cataclysmic mistake for the Andromedans
because the Spung captured it. They threatened to wipe out the entire
generation of unborn Andromedan children if the Andromedan didn't surrender
to them. The adults yielded to the Spung and, between the time that the
Andromedans were first captured by the Spung and finally liberated by the
UPP, they were enslaved and forced to fight a fierce war for approximately a
year. [NOTE: The Spung War occurred approximately 11 ESY before the beginning
of the show(2261).]
Radu was one of the hatchlings-held-hostage. Born in the space ark
hatchery in the SOL System (our solar system), Radu is the only member of
SPACE CASES crew not born in his native environment.
Andromedan culture is built around a uniformity of mind and purpose, much
like 20th century Earth Japanese team management, but taken to extremes. They
worship Yon, the god of Unity. However, Radu was something of an anomaly.
Despite best efforts of the Andromedans to help him fit in, Radu seemed
uncomfortable and unhappy with his people's cultural mindset. So, he seemed
the ideal candidate to send to the Starcademy when the UPP made the offer to
the Andromedans to have one of their young people attend. Radu is the first,
and so far, the only one, of his kind to join the Starcademy.
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Personality:
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Sensible and intelligent enough to be a very capable member of the crew,
Radu nonetheless has a problem relating to his shipmates, and tends to be
somewhat shy and insecure, ardently wanting to "fit in", to have a "family"
of his own. He really isn't at all comfortable with many of the teachings of
his native culture, especially with regard to the lack of family structure,
but does embrace some of its tenets (as in his quotation, "Loyalty is an
Andromedan's greatest strength." in the episode, Trouble with Doubles). He
also adheres to the Yonian belief that it is in bad taste to publically
expose any of one's skin (except for the face for identification purposes),
so he is never seen without long sleeves, pants and at least socks. This dual
"handicap" of not relating completely in either situation complicates his
studies, resulting in his failing grades (especially in Engineering) and his
classification as a "space case".
He still has difficulty relating to his fellow Starcademy cadets. He's
very aware of the budding trust and friendship with Harlan and is anxious to
not do anything to jeopardize it (which occasionally tests the limits of even
his extraordinary calm and patience). But, Radu finds that he's somewhat
attracted to Suzee (although he'll never forget Elmira), and so is in
competition with Harlan.
Although Radu himself was never enslaved by the Spung, he's heard many
horrible stories about it, and the thought of becoming enslaved is one of his
greatest fears.
Radu often hesitates when he speaks. While it is occasionally due to
reluctance or insecurity, the majority of the time it is because of the
enormous effort of concentration required to screen out all the extraneous
noise his superior hearing picks up. He is actually too busy trying hear
himself think.
Radu is so strong that sometimes he can forget himself , so he wears
gloves with small inertial dampeners built into the palms. They prevent him
from accidentally gripping things so tightly that he breaks them or leaves
hand prints pressed into them.
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