Commander Shran's History
Thy'lek Shran was an Andorian commander in the Imperial Guard in the 2150s. Despite his aggressive and xenophobic background, Shran became an unlikely ally of Starfleet Captain Jonathan Archer and a proponent of strengthened ties between Andoria and Earth.
In June of 2151, Shran led an Andorian commando team which raided the Vulcan monastery at P'Jem. The Andorians had for a long time accused the Vulcans of hiding a clandestine long range sensor array in the monastery for illegal surveillance of Andorian territories. The Andorians had mounted two previous raids and found no conclusive evidence but remained convinced that the sensor array was there. During this third raid, Captain Archer accidentally stumbled into the confrontation while on a courtesy visit to the monastery. Shran, believing the Humans to be collaborating with the Vulcans against them, imprisoned Archer, along with Trip Tucker and T'Pol, who were accompanying him. T'Pol's presence with the Humans only amplified Shran's suspicions, and Shran interrogated and tortured Archer for information but learned nothing of use.
His prisoners managed to stage an escape with support from security officers from Enterprise NX-01. In the ensuing firefight, Archer and Shran accidentally uncovered a passage into an advanced listening post – the Andorians had been right all along. As a gesture of peace, Archer gave Shran detailed sensor readings and images of the facility and allowed him to leave freely. As he departed, Shran said he was in Archer's debt.
Later that year, Shran was assigned to an Andorian covert ops unit supporting an uprising on Coridan, a world allied with Vulcan. When a shuttlepod from Enterprise carrying Archer and T'Pol was shot down by the rebels, Shran contacted the security team sent to extract them and provided assistance. Shran, claiming that he had "lost sleep" over his debt to Archer, wanted to arrange the Captain's freedom as payment of that debt. His information proved crucial in releasing the Enterprise crewmen, and Shran also helped avoid a fire-fight with a commando squad from the Vulcan starship Ni'Var by shooting Traeg, a Coridan rebel who was about to fire on Vulcan captain Sopek. With T'Pol having been wounded taking a shot for Sopek, Shran angrily told the Vulcan captain that it should've been him who was shot.
In late 2152, Shran was commanding ground forces deployed to Weytahn, a planetoid strategically located between Andorian and Vulcan space (referred to by the Vulcans as Paan Mokar). Recognizing a dangerous stalemate with the Vulcan forces, Shran sought to negotiate a truce with Vulcan ambassador Soval, with the talks mediated by Captain Archer. Although the Vulcans resisted the inclusion of Archer due to their innate disdain toward Humans, Shran took the unusual step of insisting on Archer's presence, stating that he trusted Archer to be objective based on their previous encounters. Despite some pitfalls in the process (Shran's lieutenant Tarah disobeyed his orders and opened fire on Archer's shuttlepod), the negotiations proved successful, and a final cease-fire was arranged. During the negotiations, Shran and Soval negotiated for weeks over little details and Soval never once lied to Shran. As a result, Shran grew to trust and respect Soval.
In December of 2153, the Kumari was deployed to the Delphic Expanse with orders to capture a prototype of a Xindi weapon for use as a deterrent against a potential Vulcan invasion. Shran followed Enterprise's warp trail, hoping to save time as the Human ship was also searching for the Xindi weapon following the Xindi's unprovoked attack on Earth. The Kumari provided tactical and engineering assistance to Enterprise, helping to repair major damage the latter ship had incurred in an encounter with several spatial anomalies. The Kumari and Enterprise launched a joint assault on a Xindi weapons-testing area, and Shran captured the Xindi prototype. Shran had not informed Archer ahead of time of his intentions to take the weapon to Andoria. Furious, Archer used the weapon's remote activation codes to force Shran to jettison the weapon before it was destroyed. Their plan foiled, the Kumari returned to Andoria. Prior to leaving the Expanse, Shran secretly relayed all technical and tactical sensor readings his ship had taken from the weapon to Enterprise; this information proved to be of enormous use in preventing a second Xindi attack on Earth.
During the Xindi weapon's attack on Earth, Shran and the Kumari appeared out of high warp, having managed to track Degra's shuttle through a subspace vortex to Earth. Shran offers his help to Archer in saving Earth, having the Kumari fly cover for Degra's near-defenseless shuttle against a Xindi-Reptilian warship commanded by Councilor Dolim. Shran's intervention allows Archer and an away team to beam to the superweapon and ultimately destroy it while Shran battles Dolim's ship. After detecting Dolim's transport to the superweapon, Shran orders his crew to target the warship's unshielded engines and the Kumari destroys the Xindi ship, rendering Dolim unable to escape. Shran stated that he and Archer were no longer even, Archer now owed him for his help.
In 2154, the Vulcan High Command planned an invasion of Andoria. Shran led a group of Andorian ships who were hiding in a nebula. Enterprise, with help by Soval, located Shran and attempted to alert him to the invasion. Not fully convinced, Shran kidnapped Soval and restrained him. Using a machine to prevent Soval from blocking his emotions, Shran attempted to retrieve the real location of the Vulcans' fleet. Shran did not want to harm Soval and simply wanted the real location of the fleet, growing more desperate and upset as he tortured Soval. When Enterprise found out about Shran kidnapping Soval, he was returned to the ship. Having been convinced by Soval's continuing insistence on his innocence, Shran shows remorse for his treatment of Soval and genuine concern for his condition, stating he did what he had to do and Soval would understand. After being convinced, Shran and Enterprise set forth to the location of the incoming Vulcan fleet. Shran only had a fleet of seven ships while the Vulcans had twelve, though more Andorian ships were on the way. When the Vulcan fleet arrived, the first fights occurred just between the Vulcans and Andorians. When Enterprise was ordered to be destroyed, Shran attempted to stop the Vulcans from doing so, stating that Archer now owed him twice. When problems in the Vulcan High Command ended, the battle halted.
Shortly after this, Shran became romantically linked with his tactical officer Talas. She initiated the pairing; Shran later told Jonathan Archer that he had the choice between arresting her and mating with her. He chose the latter.
In November of the same year, the Kumari was destroyed by a Romulan ship posing as a Tellarite vessel. Shran made it to an escape pod. Shran, Talas, and eighteen other crew members were rescued by Enterprise. Determined to make Gral, the Tellarite ambassador, confess to the attack, Shran and Talas burst into Gral's quarters and held him at gunpoint. Archer eventually cooled the dispute, but Gral's aide Naarg wounded Talas with a phase-pistol. The wound proved mortal, and as she lay dying, Talas asked Shran to avenge her. After her death, Shran challenged Naarg to the Ushaan, a traditional Andorian duel, but Archer, fearing the collapse of the fragile Andorian-Tellarite-Vulcan alliance, invoked the right to substitute for the Tellarite. Shran was hesitant to fight the Captain because he did not want to hurt someone he considered a friend. During the duel, Shran wounded Archer and urged him to give up, while the captain retorted that he "was merely making Shran look good in front of his soldiers."
The duel ended when Archer lopped off Shran's left antenna, rendering him defenseless. He was expected to compensate for the loss of the antenna in a few days and regrow it in nine months, or half that time with therapy.
When evidence suggested the Romulan ship was being controlled via telepresence by an Andorian Aenar, Shran and Archer traveled to Andoria to meet with them. After enlisting the assistance of an Aenar female named Jhamel, they were able to contact the Romulan ship's unwilling pilot and stop the attack. Shran assisted Jhamel during this time, showing deep care for her. Before departing the Enterprise, Shran told Archer that he may not get a new ship so it could be some time before they see each other again. Archer and T'Pol offered any assistance they can give him in the matter.
Shran eventually married Jhamel. In 2156, she gave birth to their first child, Talla. Two years later, Shran had quit the Imperial Guard, even though he was considered a hero. He thought he needed some change as he had a family. As a civilian he made some poor choices and had friends involved in questionable businesses. As they thought he had taken a Tenebian amethyst that belonged to them, Shran was forced to fake his death. With the help of some old colleagues from the Imperial Guard, Shran managed to disappear for three years until he was discovered. Shran emerged from hiding in 2161, just prior to the signing of the Federation Charter, after his daughter was abducted. With the assistance of Archer and Enterprise, Shran was able to rescue his daughter.
Sometime prior to 2164, he had rejoined the Imperial Guard and was promoted to general. In 2164, he appointed Jonathan Archer an honorary member of the Andorian Guard.
