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Post by Rob W on Mar 22, 2017 1:51:38 GMT
Lieutenant Junior Grade Elijah Stark ------------------------- General Statistics:
Sex: Male Race: Human Weight: 98 kg Height: 189 cm Age: 25 years old
Physical Description:
Hair: Light brown Eyes: Left = Green, Right = Blue Build: Slightly above average height with an athletic build. -------------------------
Family & Personal History: Born: January 1st, 2372
Place: Mansfield, Ohio - North America
Parents: Howard Andrew Stark, Lynn Naoma Stark Siblings: Howard Andrew Stark III, Sara Mab Stark
History: The middle son of three children, Eli was born into a politically prominent family. His father and grandfather serve on the Federations security council, having parlayed limited Starfleet service into their political careers. Expecting their children to follow suit, Elijah and his sisters decision to pursue careers in Starfleet have cause some division in the family.
Part of Elijah's decision was the result of overhearing his fathers participation in a less than ethical political maneuver. The result has created a rift between father and son that has only widened with the events of the current Federation civil war.
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Educational History: After his general education, Eli attended Starfleet Academy. His focus was on Starship Operations, Fleet tactics, and Xeno-cultural studies. Oddly enough, he has shown difficulty with political and negotiation skills, stemming from his personal issues with his families political standing. (Eli sees politics as largely disingenuous and deceptive.) Eli showed an early interest in architecture, but abandoned the interest later in his education.
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Medical History: Elijah has the average past injuries of a young adult human with an active lifestyle. His only real medical oddity is his heterochromia, a mutation that results in different colored eyes.
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Service History: Assigned OPS position - U.S.S. Hyperion - 2395 to 2397
Current Assignment: USS Zorya - Chief Science Officer
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Post by Rob W on Mar 26, 2017 22:54:53 GMT
UNITED FEDERATION OF PLANETS
Personal Log: Lt. J.G. Elijah Stark
Stardate: 11703.26
There were 713 seams in the ceiling of his quarters.
Eli lay on the bed, staring upward. Sleepless nights weren’t anything new, not for a while now, but tonight rest seemed especially unforthcoming. He lay there for a few minutes more, then sighed and rolled to his feet, padding silently across the room to the replicator.
“Tea. Black. Hot. Two sugars.”
The room light up slightly as the replicator went about its business, whirling up his beverage in a scatter of light. He sipped from his cup as he moved silently across the room, pausing to look out at the Akira class starship berthed nearby. He stood in silence for a moment longer, then walked to the desk and dropped into the chair. After a long pause he tapped the desk, waiting for the slim monitor screen to rise up and connect to the subspace net.
“Hey Mom.”
Eli fell silent again, searching for a way to begin, then took a deep breath and smiled for the screen. “I’m sorry it’s been so long since I check in with you all, I meant to check in a while ago, but things just seemed to get in the way.” Stark leaned back and smiled again, more genuine this time. “The Zorya will be returning to active duty soon, just finishing up a few last minute repairs and restocking. Honestly, I’m more excited to get back out there than I thought I’d be. Familiar faces help make it easier.”
He scoffed at himself for a moment; right, easier. Like anything was easy now. The Federation was years deep into a civil war with no end in sight and every other faction within the Alpha and Beta Quadrants were practically falling over themselves to take advantage. The though only brought family issues broiling back into his mind.
“I don’t know if you’ve heard from Dad or Sara…I haven’t heard anything here. Not that it would matter if they did; I doubt any communication from the True Federation would make it further than Intel. On the positive side I don’t think Intelligence considers me a security risk anymore, I haven’t heard from them in months. Good thing too, my bullshit meter is pretty much full.”
Eli paused, trying to order his chaotic emotions. His father’s connections to Section 31, however large or small they were he would probably never know, had made his alignment with the True Federation an all but forgone conclusion. It was Sara’s defection that had been truly shocking, sending the family into an even greater tailspin. For months, Federation Intelligence had hounded the remaining family, determined to root out any other possible True Federation supporters. As hard and disruptive their investigation had been for Eli, it had been far worse for his mother and brother. Howard’s business had suffered greatly due to the backlash towards anyone with perceived relations to the True Federation.. Two of his restaurants had gone under, and the others were only just beginning to recover.
As bad as that had been, Mom suffered the worst. Her position with the Academy had been postponed indefinitely and then outright terminated. “Fear of subversion against the Federation and its allies” had been their reasoning, but it was really an outright witch-hunt spurred on by fear and rumors of a growing True Federation cold war. When the dust had settled, even when she had been cleared, her reputation had been so tarnished her career in teaching was over. Now she was alone in their ancestral home, her family at one another’s throats and scattered across the known galaxy. “I’m sorry your there all alone…someone should be there…I should be there. Of all the times to head back out into this shit-storm, now couldn’t be worse. I didn’t mean to dump all of this on Howie, on you…but I needed to get back out here…I just needed to DO…something.”
He paused the recording again, shaking his head in disgust with himself. After a few minutes if refocusing, he resumed the recording. “The ships councilor said its survivor’s guilt. He’s saying because I made it off the ‘Rion and other didn’t I’m subconsciously punishing myself by sabotaging my emotional stability. Eli took a drink from his cup and grimaced, the tea long having cooled. “Like I’M the one who decided to wreck our family and running off with a would-be dictator, destabilizing the known galaxy.”
Stark sat up, his anger rising with recounting the events of the last few years. He hammered the pause with his clenched fist. “And of course I’m emotional, my fucking Captain was killed and my ship destroyed! The Breen saw an opportunity to hit us when we’re weak thank to Karn and his True Federation bullshit. Hell, I don’t want to meet the person who’s NOT emotional when shit like that happens.”
After a long silence, Eli resumed the recording. “I’m sorry Mom; I don’t mean to keep making this about me. Truth be told…I’m scared. I don’t know what to expect going forward. I don’t want you and Howie being sick with worry every time I’m out here. I think about what might happen if we’re in combat with the True Federation…Sara could be there and I would never know. God, the thought of that…”
He stopped one final time, letting the recording run. “I just want you to know I’m thinking about you, of everyone back home. Tell Howard I’m sorry for being such an asshole before, I don’t want things between us to be like this. I’ll see you all first chance I get some leave. Be safe Mom, I’ll see you soon.”
He sat in darkness for a few minutes more, the screen flashing “transmission complete”. After a time, he silently padded back to the window. Outside, the Zorya waited to launch. Eli nodded.
“Not long now girl, then we’ll see what you’ve got.”
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Post by Einar on Mar 27, 2017 9:11:45 GMT
fascinating backstory Rob! I am looking forward to future logs
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Post by Rob W on Apr 1, 2017 2:38:20 GMT
UNITED FEDERATION OF PLANETS
USS Zorya: NCC-77989
Stardate: 11704.01
Lt. JG Elijah Stark - OPS U.S.S. Zorya
“Damn, that’s close,”
Stark traced the course the Zorya was taking to their rendezvous with the Salk with his finger, pausing at the point the arcing path nearly touched Tellun and Beta Rigel. The new “border” with the True Federation was uncomfortable close for his personal taste, almost as if the Federation were trying to make a statement to the TF, that they wouldn’t be intimidated.
But they were intimidated.
The True Federation had succeeded in tearing the Federation in two, something Eli had never even considered, much less believed possible. The roots of Section 31 had proven cancerous, spreading unseen until it was too late. Now the known galaxy was in near chaos, and war seemed like inevitability. The only question was, with the other factions in the galaxy virtually drooling at the chance to finish the job, would there be enough left in the end for either Federation to survive?
Still, they were doing what they were meant to do, providing relief to a planet in need. If nothing else they were showing the galaxy and the TF that regardless of the seeming futility, they weren’t abandoning the tenants that had formed the Federation in the first place. The boy he had been when he left the Academy might struggle with the man he was becoming, but his belief in what the Federation stood for would never change.
Eli leaned back into his new chair on the bridge of yet another warship and shook his head. Everything he believed in and yet here he was again, screaming through space in a ship built primarily for battle. The irony wasn’t lost on him nor the realization that in spite of her fearsome design, the Zorya was what they made of her.
Even in his short life he’d learned that sometimes you needed a little sword to go with your shield.
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Post by Nola on Apr 1, 2017 3:58:22 GMT
"I am the sword in the darkness..." Nicely done, Rob
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Post by Rob W on Jun 5, 2017 23:45:21 GMT
UNITED FEDERATION OF PLANETS
USS Zorya: NCC-77989
Stardate: 11706.05
Lt. JG Elijah Stark - OPS U.S.S. Zorya
"Sentient grass....our Captain's being mind-screwed by sentient grass."
Eli tapped away on the console, still not sure how they were going to stop the telepathic infection. The damping field was having an effect, the mutation in the TP connection was proof enough of that, but the imbalance was killing the captain. Backing off the field bit by bit might stabilize the intrusion, saving his life, but then they would have to deal with the outcome. Maybe keeping him sedated would suffice, until the life form was deposited and they could clear the area, but everything they came up with was theoretical. Telepathy and other psionics were sketchy subjects at best, even when dealing with familiar races like the Betazeds, much less an unknown life form like this....weed.
Add in the bombings now tearing through the planet thanks to the shadowy band of zealots responsible for the whole thing in the first place, and their situation was fast devolving from bad to hopeless.
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Post by Rob W on Aug 6, 2018 3:37:50 GMT
UNITED FEDERATION OF PLANETSUSS Zorya: NCC-86273
Stardate: 11808.05
Lt. JG Elijah Stark - CSO U.S.S. Zorya “You got everything packed?”
Howard leaned against the door jamb of his brothers’ small room in their parent’s home. Eli nodded as he tossed the last bag onto his bed. “I just finished. Jesus, I didn’t realize I had so much crap.” He drop onto the edge of the desk and crossed his arms. “Now I just have to get the all clear from Starfleet on my transportation to the Zorya.”
Howard nodded, both brothers falling silent. The last 2 years had been hard on the Stark family, the war between the Federation and its defectors and split not only their government but their family as well. Eli had always butted heads with his father over their differing views on the Federation and what it stood for, but never in a million years would he have imagined him joining the True Federation, Sara even less. Needless to say the rest of the family had borne the brunt of the reaction, though with time things had finally begun to return to some semblance of normal. Despite being cleared of any involvement, their mother had lost her position teaching at the academy, her reputation still recovering even now. Thankfully a colleague had reach out to her, giving her a chance. Howard had not fared much better, two of his three restaurants had gone under, with the last barely surviving thanks again to friendly support.
Eli’s struggle had been the most intense; Starfleet had not taken his father and sister’s betrayal well and hadn’t been convinced he wasn’t complicit either. Even after it had become clear of his loyalty, there were concerns of him being compromised. He had been pulled from his field post and stationed back on Earth, where he had spent the better part of the last 2 years being put through the every scrutiny. Now, finally, Starfleet was at least convinced of where he stood, though several of the investigating officers had expressed their concerns over what he would do if confronted by his loved ones. If he was honest, he shared their concern. What would he do if he ran into one of them on some planet, their interests at odds? What would they do? It wasn’t a situation he cared to ponder for long.
“You ok?”
Eli looked up with slight confusion for a second; he hadn’t realized he’d drifted off leaving an uncomfortable silence. “Huh? Oh…yeah, no I’m OK. I was just thinking about the last couple of years…How things have been.” He took a breath and then rose off the desk. “You know, I don’t have to go. If you guys still need me here it can wait. I know things are finally getting back to normal…at least as normal as they can, but...” Howard shook his head, “We’re fine Eli, and you don’t have to worry about us. Starfleet’s put you on hold long enough and it’s well past time you got your life back.” Both brothers smiled slightly, Howard nodded as he put a hand on his brothers’ shoulder. “Everything that’s happened, I can’t imagine what going back out there feels like. I know you and Dad…having that fallout, finding out he was part of all this….Sara. I don’t know how you have it in you to go back out there, but I’m proud of you…we all are. I don’t think I could do that…just the thought…”
Eli reached up and put his hand on his brothers, squeezing it in thanks. “I know…and it scares me. But I took an oath, just like everyone else who enlisted did, I have to go. I need to go. Everything seems to be falling apart and if I can help even a little…I just need to try.” The scene was cut short by the chirping from his PADD, his transportation details streaming in. Howard smiled again, realizing their time together now growing short. “That’s it then…time to go.” Eli tapped his PADD, his belongings dematerializing soon after as he hefted his carry on to his shoulder. The Stark brothers embraced on last time, choking back their emotions at first. Howard touched his forehead to his brothers, closed eyes fighting back tears. “Be safe little brother…be safe and come home.”
Eli nodded silently, unable to speak in fear his voice would break. He stepped back and tapped his combadge. As the transporter effect began to swirl around him, he took one last look at home. Then, taking a deep breath, he instinctively looked up as the world dissolved and he sped away.
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Post by Einar on Aug 6, 2018 7:02:32 GMT
Welcome back. I've missed Eli, this will be fun and a great new backstory
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Post by Rob W on Aug 27, 2018 18:31:43 GMT
UNITED FEDERATION OF PLANETSUSS Zorya: NCC-86273
Stardate: 11808.20
Lt. JG Elijah Stark - CSO U.S.S. Zorya Eli stared at his console, fighting the urge to look out the main viewer. He had already been uneasy with returning to Starfleet, but being back where it had all seemed to go wrong was proving harder than he had anticipated. When he had read the Zorya’s orders he’d known where they were going, but it had seemed far off. Now, being there, he couldn’t help feeling like being anywhere else but here. The massive amount of ordinance used along with the core breaches from dead ships had wreaked havoc on local space, turning the area into a spacial mine field. Radiation and energy fluctuations of every kind danced across the area, some in patterns while others were completely random. Their shields would protect them from most of it, but running into some of the more potent emissions could be catastrophic. Ironically Eli was actually glad for the distraction, anything but dealing with the emotions dredged up from being here.
Finally, almost against his will, he looked up and out the main viewer at system. It still had that odd, greenish hue to the stars other celestial bodies. They weren’t actually green; it was an effect of the mish-mash of ordinance radiation that created the effect. Still, it seemed to give the place a feeling of toxicity and death. Stark shook the thought out of his head, chastising himself. The space around them was just space, not some mustache twirling villain taking enjoyment in their misery. Factions cause battles; the environment was just their battlefield.
Eli thought about the counseling he’d had after and what she had told him. Combat survivors often encounter issues afterwards. PTSD, survivors guilt, it can vary widely and as he’d learned, it often doesn’t make sense to the sufferer. Eli knew he and the rest of the crew had done everything they could, no one could have done more. However losing their captain had affected him intensely, even though he hadn’t served with him as long as others. Part of it the psychologist said was due to his age and experience. He hadn’t been actively serving in Starfleet for very long, little more than a year, and just wasn’t prepared for the loss experienced. On top of that, he had been dealing with more than a little disillusionment. Eli had very strong ideals on what Starfleet and the Federation was and what they represented. It might have been better if he HAD served on a science vessel like had originally wanted rather than a warship like the Hyperion or Zorya. His perceptions and ideals had been challenged almost from the start and it had been a rude awakening.
Still, he’d had plenty of time to adjust and deal with his demons, literal and figuratively, this feeling was something else. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but it there was just unusual weight, almost as if the dead were watching them expectantly. He sighed and sat back into this chair, refocusing on the data coming in. There would be time enough for contemplation at the memorial ceremony, time enough for ghosts. Right now, there was work to be done and the living to tend to.
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Post by aoibheni on Aug 28, 2018 9:01:39 GMT
Lovely bit of insight, Rob.
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Post by Rob W on Sept 3, 2018 18:45:02 GMT
Jeremiah sprang to his feet as the Captain approved them leaving the Bridge and signaled for Bleet to take over his station before rushing over to the Turbolift where Lieutenant Stark was already waiting. He knew his plan was wishful thinking more than proper theory at this stage, but he knew his own capabilities as a shuttle pilot, and if the shuttle could hold up he could do this.
"Sir..shuttlebay?" he asked as he got into the lift, momentarily forgetting his heartbreak as adrenaline took over.
Eli nodded, still trying to process everything that had happened in the last few hours. He didn’t notice the silence in the turbo lift until it came to a halt at the main shuttle bay. Snapping back to the present with a slight start, Eli nodded and gave a weak smile to Rome as they walked the corridor to the shuttle bay.
“I’ll start on the alterations to the shields, the radiation surges are going to be just as dangerous as the gravimetric shear when you get in there.” He handed a PADD to Jeremiah, “Pull up the navigational sensors, these calibrations should allow for better detection of the gravity and radiation bursts.”
'Aye sir, I also will ask the Doc for a shot of hyronalin for me and the....passengers, together with the shielding that should see us through....I´d rather not see my DNA unravel too much" he said taking the PADD, his voice trailing off as Stark moved away swiftly.
Stark headed to the rear of the shuttle and removed the access panel covering the shield emitters while Jeremiah opened the shuttle doors to get access to the control panel embedded in the frame. For a few moments, the silence hung heavily again until he decided against his better judgment to broach the subject. “I’m sorry….that it wasn’t him. Your uncle I mean.” He trailed off for a moment. “Honestly, I think all of us who served on the Hyperion were hoping for the same thing.”.
Jeremiah´s hand froze over the LCARS "Aye sir....I know my dad would have wanted that to be the case." he stook his head out the frame "But thank you sir"
Stark nodded and smiled weakly again as he thought back. “He was an interesting man…your uncle. Not going to lie, he was challenging.” He nodded to himself again, “Very challenging. There were times I was conflicted by some of the things he would ask of us, things that just didn’t seem right to me….” He trailed off for a moment, trying to find the right words. “I think it’s just the difference between someone who hasn’t been there and seen as much as he had. Sometimes I wonder if my ideals are just unrealistic, maybe I’m just naïve to how the world really works.” Stark adjusted the shield emitter’s output sensors to adjust to fluctuations in the gravitational eddies the shuttle would encounter closer to the aperture, then replaced the panel cover and moved to the shield control console. Eli fell silent, thinking about not just his time on the Hyperion, but everything that had come after. He thought about the Federations division, his father being a part of the True Federation all along, his sister leaving to join him.
“Maybe I’m just wrong about all of it.”
He swallowed the emotion as it tried to well up again like it had so many times since it had all began and clenched his jaw as he turned to Rome. ” But I’ll tell you one thing your uncle taught me, something he taught us all. What we all think the Federation is supposed to be, HOW we’re supposed to uphold the ideals it’s built on is something we may never agree on. However, we all agree it’s worth fighting for, and what makes it worth fighting for are the people in it.” Eli tapped another sequence into the shield control console and looks back to Rome again. “I might not like the idea of taking this risk without more time, but I know what your uncle would say…that there are members of our crew down there waiting for us…that it’s a risk worth taking, and I think he’d be proud of you for taking it.” Jeremiah merely stared at the console, his right hand shaking above the interface as he listened to the man he had perhaps only exchanged pleasantries with in passing up until now sharing something very personal "I never cared for his approval...he may have been a hero to some, but in the news and whispers at the Academy....and trust me there were always whispers, he was a cautionary tale". Jeremiah lowered his hand and stepped out the shuttle doors to look at Stark "And I don´t think your values are stupid sir. I share those values, where I think he did not...." He nodded at Stark while moving over to a trolley nearby, picking up an ODN decoupler "And these are your people down there also....we will get them.” Eli smiled. His reaction surprised even himself a little, smiling wasn’t the first reaction you’d think one would have to an exchange like this, but he did all the same. Maybe it wasn’t just his family that seemed fractured and broken, maybe the rest of the galaxy was just as unsure as he was. For the first time since deciding to return to Starfleet he actually felt like maybe things would somehow work out, that he wasn’t as alone as he thought. He handed Rome the PADD with the final adjustments needed to sync the shuttles thruster controls to the sensor arrays detection algorithms.
“I guess no one can drive you crazier than family.”
Jer accepted the PADD "That´s why I left. Just didn´t know they´d assign me to the one ship that constantly reminds me of family". He smiled thankfully and tapped the PADD "I will input the data and make some minor adjustments to the SIF before heading back up to the Bridge sir"
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Post by aoibheni on Sept 9, 2018 12:46:44 GMT
I love how Jer is getting bombarded with rome stuff at every turn. And I enjoyed seeing the impact of being back at Free Haven for Eli, too. Nicely done, boys.
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