| Born during the El-Aurian flight from their home world as it was being destroyed by the Borg. Raikon was one of the few El-Arian’s saved from the refugee ship as it was stuck in the nexus ribbon by the efforts of Kirk and his colleagues on the enterprise B. His parents and any brothers or sisters he might have had didn't make it. Due to the chaos of fleeing and the destruction of their ship none of the El-Arian’s took Raikon in and he was overlooked. He was put into a federation orphanage where he was later adopted by a Finnish couple, Harold and Magda. Raikon grew up in a loving family. His mother and father were hard on him but fair. Harold taught him all the tricks to survive in the Finnish countryside from hunting to building shelters. Raikon was also taught woodcutting and carpentry, making and mending fishing boats. Magda was the opposite as she was an impulse engineer working for Starfleet and from here he got the interest of exploring space and finding out what’s beyond the planet. When he was deemed old enough Harold and Magda told him of his origins and his arrival on earth. It didn't change his view of his parents, but his view on what he wanted to do with his life. He was more determined now to join Starfleet, honouring people like Kirk, who saved his life, and others by repaying their kindness. He also hoped this way he might get into contact with others like him.
Joining star fleet at 23 he was older than most other recruits and the fact his mother taught him about impulse engines which gave him another edge. This helped him to automatically fall into a leading role. Teaching and motivating his peers which got noticed by the brass of the academy who recommended him for officer command school straight after coming out of the academy. He refused as he would rather follow the engineering career track than one of command. In engineering school he doubled his efforts earning him the nickname "the tank" as he studied hard and work his team mates harder without any apparent rest. Near to the point of exhaustion and burnout he finally got what he wanted by graduating full honours from engineering school and getting a posting soon after on the Fredrickson.
During his years serving on different ships he distinguished himself as a capable and dependable officer rising through the ranks at a steady pace. It was on the USS Oberth where he met his wife Mira a Bajoran who also worked in engineering. Her beauty and stubbornness overcame Raikon’s reservation about starting a relationship with someone he would potentially outlive. From this union they had a daughter named Emily.
Getting a promotion to Lt. the family moved to the USS Saratoga. The ship wasn't much bigger than an Oberth class but they made due. Disaster struck in the year 2367 and would leave a scar in him for life when the Saratoga got called in to help defend earth against an invading force named "The Borg". The battle went horribly wrong which would be later known as the battle at Wolf 359. The Borg was an enemy they never faced before and technological so far ahead of the federation it was like a punch line to a bad joke. The losses were heavy and the Saratoga was amongst them. During the ordeal Raikon distinguished himself by taking command when most of the command staff was killed. Badly damaged and barely flyable he managed to get the Saratoga out of the combat zone by jury rigging and patching her up enough. Along the way he picked up as many escape pods from other ships as he could. In the aftermath he realised how badly damaged the ship was. The ship missed a nacelle and huge chunks missing were from the dorsal section. It was like the ship had gone through a meat grinder. When the casualty list finally came in Raikon's heart froze as he fell down to his knees as Kira & Emily names were amongst the MIA. Raikon does not speak about that period in his life...
Due to the loss of so many ships and experienced crew. Raikon was recalled in 2368 by Starfleet to once again take charge as chief engineer on a ship. Unknowing to him his former captain had put him up for promotion to Lt. Commander. But due to his bravery under fire and his service record Starfleet wanted to make the exception and skip this promotion and make him a commander but Raikon refused. That period in his life he rather forgot now and he didn’t want to be promoted over the backs of others.
From 2368 to 2374 he served in the engineering department of the USS Gallant a tough little ship he got quite settled back in the role of chief engineer again but that all changed when the Dominion war started in 2373. The Jem’Hadar were a ruthless foe making even the Klingon look meek in comparison. Caught by surprise during some rear guard patrol the Gallant got destroyed before help arrived by a Jem’Hadar patrol. Only a quarter of the crew made it out including Raikon who jettisoned the warp core as it was going critical to buy the escape pods some time and distance. Being battlefield promoted Raikon joined the crew of the USS Galaxy who saw some heavy combat during the last few months of the war. Her last battle was the liberation of Cardassia where she suffered crippling damage that took her out of commission for the remainder of the war.
Raikon was transferred back to the very first ship he served on as a Lieutenant. He was demoted as the battlefield promotion was never endorsed and Raikon wasn’t going to fight over it. His served on the USS Fredrickson with distinction when he got asked to serve on another ship. A quieter posting one which Star Fleet hoped that Raikon would this time take a promotion if it would come around.
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