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Wed May 2nd, 2018 @ 12:57pm
Captain Daniel Westphalen
Name Daniel Westphalen
Position Former Commanding Officer
Rank Captain
Character Information
| Gender | Male | |
| Species | Human | |
| Age | 37 |
Physical Appearance
| Height | 5'11" | |
| Weight | 175 lbs | |
| Hair Color | Blonde | |
| Eye Color | Blue |
Family
| Father | Edward Westphalen | |
| Mother | Mariella Westphalen |
Personality & Traits
| General Overview | Daniel carries himself with a degree of old-world dignity, borne from a heritage based in Europe. He's got a friendly, personable demeanor and keeps his appearance professional and well-groomed. | |
| Strengths & Weaknesses | Daniel is a creative thinker, borne from years of scientific experimentation. However, his focus is on exploration and discovery, and a dangerous universe makes him somewhat blind to the danger of exploring space. | |
| Ambitions | He dreams of meeting new civilizations and exploring all new, uncharted space. | |
| Hobbies & Interests | Fencing, reading, Earth orchestral music, wine, and space sciences. |
| Personal History | Daniel Westphalen has always been a Starfleet brat, steeped in the culture of the Federation's exploratory arm since his birth on stardate 33220.8 (February, 2356). His father was a stellar cartographer on the USS Pegasus, under Erik Pressman, and his mother served on Starbase 212 as an enlisted operations technician. Given that his father was in a position involving long-term exploration, it wasn't until the Pegasus' loss in 2359, and his father's court-martial proceedings for the mutiny against Pressman that Daniel finally got time with his father, and by that point, the man was a bitter version of the intrepid explorer. Daniel's father railed against Starfleet, against procedure, against following orders, and against Pressman, who became an admiral when Daniel was 7. He gave no specific reasons, only citing that human nature is to question orders made that run counter to morality. This affected Daniel deeply, so much so that his original plan of joining Starfleet, and following in his father's footsteps, nearly did not succeed. He instead redoubled his focus on his passions of music and science, ignoring attempts to recruit him into Starfleet made by many teachers on the starbase. It wasn't until he was seventeen, and ready to look into programs for Xenoarcheology and Physics that a teacher, a Lieutenant Mari Silva, sat down with him and made a point that changed Daniel's tune; "If you don't like something, ignoring it doesn't change it. Meeting it head-on, and making it different, that is change." Two weeks later, Starfleet Academy received his application. The testing process went swiftly, with Daniel passing with flying colors. His time in the Academy featured a heavy focus on the sciences, though he did have the honor of being a student in Miles O'Brien's first class as an instructor at the Academy. O'Brien's time in the Cardassian conflict and Dominion War, as well as his background as an enlisted man in Starfleet, made Daniel often seek him out for advice, despite the fact that the instructor was not part of Daniel's core curriculum teachers. Daniel's cadet cruise was aboard the USS Io, a Luna-class explorer designated for stellar survey. He served as a sensor specialist during that cruise. Upon graduation, Daniel was posted as an Ensign and junior science officer aboard the USS Odyssey. The aging Galaxy-class cruiser performed many experiments regarding the Hromi Cluster's gamma particle density, a small oddity of the cluster. Dr. Gavetti, the chief science officer, had a theory that the cluster had evolved it due to an old battle in the area. Daniel's specialty meant that he spent much of the mission as an adjutant on the bridge of the ship, working directly with the senior crew as a mission specialist. This mission eventually led to his promotion to lieutenant, junior grade. In 2380, Daniel applied for a position as a science officer aboard one of the new Luna-class ships that Starfleet was putting into service. It was refused, and he turned around and applied as an operations officer. This too, was refused, but it was noticed by the captain of the Odyssey, who picked him up immediately as a relief operations officer. Here, like many science officers aboard Galaxy-Class ships before him, he served a dual role; managing the ship, and using the rest of his duty time in the labs. By 2384, he was a full lieutenant, serving as the Chief of Operations aboard the Odyssey. Captain Taggert commended him on two separate occasions for independent thought during missions to Narendra III and a diplomatic summit with the Tamarians, their first since El-Adrel III. Those commendations led to another promotion in 2386, to Lieutenant Commander, and a transfer to Starfleet Headquarters for command training. The submission to the Command Training program was made by Captain Taggert, citing Daniel's "creativity under duress, and his unwillingness to let the moral fiber of the Federation fall slack under his watch." He completed the training program, served as an adjutant under Admiral Hastings, and was offered a position in 2388 that he had hoped for; the USS Aurora, a Nova-class surveyor. |
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| Service Record | 2378 - Cadet cruise, USS Io, Sensor Specialist 2379 - 2386 - USS Odyssey, Science officer, Operations Officer, Chief of Operations; promoted from Ensign to Lieutenant Commander 2386 - 2387 - Command School; promoted to Commander 2388 - Adjutant to Admiral Hastings 2389 - 2390 - Commanding Officer, USS Aurora; promoted to Captain |