#&. first ferengi in starfleet ( hc | nog )

[tongowheel]

NEW FERENGI TIMELINE — combining elements from this post && this post, since @constablegoo && i have since changed the pacing of things.

2363-2369 — the events of "the kind of thing that could be"

2368 — giax && siraba flee ferenginar && stow away on the enterprise-d.

2369 — the federation takes over terok nor. quark is blackmailed into staying on the station. dr. reyga's studies on metaphasic shielding are tested on board the enterprise. after a near-death event, his hypothesis is proven plausible && he goes on to do great things with his research. he invites siraba && giax to travel with him; they decline due to safety concerns but remain in touch,

2370 — pel arrives on ds9 after leaving ferenginar. they subsequently depart for the gamma quadrant.

2371 — nog applies to starfleet academy

2372 — nog starts at starfleet academy. giax && siraba arrive on ds9, seeking federation asylum.

2373 — nog does his second year field study on ds9

2374 — nog is given a field commission of ensign, two years early. pel returns to ds9 briefly during the events of "profit and lace" (as chronicled here).

2375 —  nog is promoted to lieutenant jr. grade, following the end of the dominion war. rom becomes grand nagus. odo leaves ds9 to rejoin the link for six months. following his return, he && quark only see each other a handful of times, as their responsibilities keep them busy. siraba, while away on an exchange with denobulan scientists, first meets @zeveth. the two later begin working together, somewhat begrudgingly, on a cure for the jem'hadar's reliance on ketracel-white once zeveth takes refuge on ds9.

2376 — nog returns to san francisco for an honorary graduation with the rest of his class. quark is offered a job managing branches of a ferengi-operated casino around the alpha quadrant. he considers going, but realizes he doesn't want to leave. quark && odo admit in their own way to feelings they have been harboring on && off for years. there's an almost-unspoken agreement to the start of a relationship, one that they don't rush, && don't put a name to for a while. siraba && zeveth also start dating around this time.

2377 — nog is promoted to a full lieutenant

2380 — nog becomes the assistant chief engineer of ds9

2381 — nog is promoted to lieutenant commander

2384 — nog becomes the chief engineer of ds9

2385 — nog formally switches to the command track && promoted to commander. quark begins opening chain locations of his bar across the galaxy, traveling when necessary, but keeping ds9 as his home base. 

2386 — qelet is assimilated by the borg.

2387 — qelet's reclamation process takes place between ohniaka iii && ferenginar.

2388 — qelet enters starfleet academy, sponsored by nog.

2390 — nog is promoted to captain, is sent on a 1-year exploratory && diplomatic mission to the gamma quadrant. quark opens a branch of his bar on freecloud, && decides to move there with odo.

2391 — jake && nog get engaged.

2392 — quark and odo take in an orphaned [bajoran] child. jake and nog get married

2393 — odo proposes, && they get married themselves. qelet graduates starfleet academy && is stationed on ds9.

2453 — on his 100th birthday, nog retires from active starfleet service after a long and distinguished career. he becomes the official federation ambassador to ferenginar, a role in which he serves until his death (which is not for a while. he lives a long time, close if not up to the upper limit for ferengi, which is 300 years).

2475 — grand nagus rom retires, && is succeeded by his granddaughter ishka ii

2483 — quark and odo have been living on freecloud for over 90 years. in that time, they’ve adopted and raised a number of children, and quark has come into quite a large amount of money and power. keeping his chain of bars open, he and odo leave freecloud and “retire” to ds9, where they open a small cafe together (yes, together.) it’s called QUARK (& odo)’s because they’re very original lmao.

2550 — quark retires for real, and he and odo go to ferenginar where they stay until quark’s death (probably around 2580-2590).

3186 — iba is assigned to the uss nog, an 80% ferengi starfleet ship, as a science officer.

3187 — iba makes contact with odo, who is living alone on ferenginar, seeking his assistance.

3189 — iba is transferred to the uss discovery.

[cheeseanonioncrisps]

My personal hc is that, though Nog was the first, post-DS9 and Rom becoming Nagus Starfleet Academy is going to start becoming an increasingly attractive option for young Ferengi women whose families are more liberal in their beliefs but aren't as ‘radical’ as Ishka.

Cause I mean, Ferengi men are going to keep experiencing the pressure to earn Profit. That's not going to go away anytime soon.

Their religion appears to centre around the idea that it is a man's responsibility to earn enough latinum to allow themselves and any dependants (meaning both female family members and male members who can't earn for some reason) to enter the afterlife. Profit essentially = prayer.

Give it a few decades and I imagine they'll come up with some way to work around it— maybe Starfleet and the Alliance will rustle up some kind of ‘cultural stipend’ for Ferengi Fleet Members, or maybe the religion will start allowing for symbolic ‘earnings’ for unpaid labour— but in the mean time almost any male Ferengi who tries to apply is going to face exactly the same issues that Nog faced.

Concern from family members about how they're going to earn a Profit, and potentially resentment from male family members who will now have to pick up their slack.

But we can tell from the fuss everyone makes when Ishka starts earning that female Profit either doesn't count or is possibly actively profane. Ferengi females can clearly handle latinum that is earned by males (Quark sends his mother a stipend to live off) but they can't contribute to the family coffers.

So what can you do, if you're a newly liberated Ferengi Female who doesn't want to be married off and have to spend your life chewing food and performing Oomox on demand, but who perhaps isn't ready to bring Ultimate Shame on your family by earning Profit?

Well now there's an Option 3.

Yeah, you'll have to wear clothes. But I suspect that that particular social convention will vanish fairly quickly once Ferengi tailors start making Profit from selling women's clothing. And you get to have a job where you'll be treated with respect, with lots of opportunities for advancement, but no Profit is involved, so you're not stepping on any male family member's toes.

Hell, you can even spin it as a positive to your Head of Family (or a potential Mate). Like, they won't have to pay for your upkeep anymore, because Starfleet covers employee room and board. And you'll be travelling across the galaxy gaining potential business contacts for the Family.

And when trading with other species, especially Federation members, I suspect that having a sister or daughter employed and living out in the open would be a real positive when it came to negotiation.

Not only would you have a (wo)man on the inside, but you'd get to present yourselves as some of the New Modern Ferengi who are respectful towards Feeemales and Hoomans and are definitely nothing like those other Ferengi you may have heard about, who are just awful.

It'd be the equivalent of irl corporations tweeting about feminism to advertise how progressive they are.

[ncthingstars]

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ more nog things because i  ✨ can ✨

when he’s a captain, and other ferengi are beginning to join starfleet, nog goes out of his way to find where their assignments are and visit/meet them. he’s very conscious of the fact that every ferengi in starfleet is there as a direct result of his own journey, that he inspired them. maybe it has something to do with the fact that grand nagus rom won’t stop talking about his son, the starfleet officer, but it warms nog’s heart to see more of his people following in his footsteps. he never wanted to separate himself from ferengi culture and identity entirely, and so knowing that he was able to bridge that gap and others came after him means a lot.

the younger officers always expect him to be stoic and formal and cold, because that’s how they were raised to see starfleet, but nog greets them warmly, personally, and in full ferengi manner. he’s excited to meet them. if they get misty-eyed at meeting their hero, he does too. he’ll shake their hands, hug them, give advice or just sit down and chat. whatever they want.

nog has always been a big dork, and they get to see that. he is admired and beloved by every other ferengi officer in starfleet. and as he gets older, he makes it a goal to one day command a ship with an all-ferengi starfleet crew — just to prove that he could.

and he does.

nog goes on to be somewhat of a legend, not just among his own people, but within starfleet too. he’s never promoted above captain, but only because he doesn’t want to be. he’s a war hero, a diplomat, the somewhat unofficial but obvious choice ferengi ambassador to the federation, and overall icon.

but.... he stays humble, for the most part. sure, it’s hard not to bask in the glory a little, but he is his father’s son. he visits ferenginar every year, keeps in touch with his family, keeps in touch with the old ds9 gang. he gives some lectures at starfleet academy, speaks at conferences and summits, and writes a memoir (what a long way from the 16 year old boy who couldn’t even read — jake is so proud of him).

he lives a long, full, exciting life, and retires quietly on ferenginar. his name goes down in history, not just for years, but for centuries, and in this time, the ferengi population in starfleet only grows. by the 32nd century, a federation ship’s been named after him, the first commissioned eisenberg-class vessel. 

anyway he’s neat and i love him :)

[tongowheel]

relevant to a reply i’m writing — 

nog only spent a year at starfleet academy. his second year was fieldwork on ds9 which was interrupted by the dominion war, resulting in him being granted a field commission. at the end of the war, he was promoted to lieutenant. but all that time, he was an engineer. we know, from beta canon, that he ultimately switches to command track, && we’ve seen that happen with a few other characters in tng, namely deanna && beverly. all that’s required of an officer who wants to be able to take command is to take the bridge officer’s test, && whether that results in a full track switch or just a command addition is case-by-case (beverly becomes a captain eventually, deanna does not.)

we also know, from beta canon, that nog took the kobayashi maru, which is specifically an academy test. as far as we’re told in canon, only command-track cadets do the kobayashi maru, which means nog would not have, even if beta canon seems to suggest otherwise. there are accounts of him taking it two different times, with two different solutions, as well, && i love both too much to only choose one.

so i’m making up a situation that satisfies all of these requirements: the kobayashi maru is required for command-track cadets, but anyone can take it, && i’d even venture to say it’s a prerequisite for anyone planning to serve on the bridge of a ship, as bridge are are close to the action && command decisions. whether nog had that intent or not, i’m not sure, but regardless — he decided to sit for the test. in fact, it may have been an ego thing, part of him being desperate to prove himself. the first time he did the kobayashi maru, he cheated. he didn’t see it as cheating, but starfleet did. in order to beat the simulation, nog bribed the romulans, && since the program wasn’t built with that option in mind, it simply broke down. it wasn’t exactly considered passing, && it certainly wasn’t a WIN — but nog maintains that it was a good, solid strategy that could’ve worked in real combat. because of nog’s shortened time as a student, once the war ends && he’s had time to settle, he actually returns to the academy for an additional two semesters. this is proof of how much he’s grown since then ;   to return to the classroom while holding a lieutenant rank requires a complete ego shed. but he does it, && during this time, nog completes the kobayashi maru scenario again. this time, he devises a new strategy. it’s still a no-win, but he passes with flying colors. in this round, nog lures the enemy onto his ship, && sets the self-destruct announcement so low that only his ferengi ears can hear it. 

anyway, tl;dr nog completed the kobayashi maru twice like a total badass.

[tongowheel]

as i outlined in my ferengi timeline, nog moves through the ranks quite quickly, becoming a captain by 2390. therefore, this is the general breakdown of his promotions over the years...

2371 — nog applies to starfleet academy 2372 — nog starts at starfleet academy 2373 — nog does his second year field study on ds9 2374 — nog is given a field commission of ensign, two years early  2375 —  nog is promoted to lieutenant jr. grade, following the end of the dominion war 2376 — nog returns to san francisco for an honorary graduation with the rest of his class 2377 — nog is promoted to a full lieutenant 2380 — nog becomes the assistant chief engineer of ds9 2381 — nog is promoted to lieutenant commander 2384 — nog becomes the chief engineer of ds9 2385 — nog formally switches to the command track 2385 — nog is promoted to commander  2390 — nog is promoted to captain

some of these dates && assignments are based on beta canon from the novels, but some of it is my own headcanons.

[ncthingstars]

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ some random starfleet asshole who probably didn’t get the promotion they wanted: you’re only a captain because your father’s the grand nagus nog: lmao imagine the federation giving a shit about ferenginar or our social hierarchy or thinking highly of any ferengi enough for my father to be a factor in my rank

[tongowheel]

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ *combines all my muses verses* enoch serves on nog’s ship when he graduates from the academy

[ncthingstars]

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ nog + starfleet service record

some nog headcanons since i wanna talk about him !! while some of this draws from beta canon, i’m not really conforming to specific events or dates.

- after his promotion to lieutenant jr. grade, nog continues working in ds9′s operations department while also serving as an active crewman for the defiant on its various missions. - his promotion to lieutenant commander comes with the assignment of chief engineer/chief of operations on ds9 and the defiant (by 2377) - i would love to keep that bit of sto canon where nog takes over from geordi as chief engineer of the enterprise but idk for sure if i’m gonna do that. if i do, it happens sooner than in sto, probably around 2383, and it’s only temporary. we know that geordi had left the enterprise by 2385 and was working at utopia planetia, so although sto puts him in command of a ship at this time, it’s very possible that his assignment was there instead. likely sometime before or around the attacks on mars, he’s departed the enterpise.  - he’s promoted once again to commander, and in addition to still serving on the defiant on occasion, he becomes the first officer of... some ship, idk which. - in 2390, nog is promoted to captain. he does a year-long mission in the gamma quadrant on the uss decorus. he stays with the decorus for a few years after that, though he stays primarily in the alpha quadrant. - by 2395, nog is commanding the defiant himself, which is his most current posting.

[tongowheel]

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ tag dump pt. 10 — nog !

[ncthingstars]

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ nog tag dump !