Erin Ishay

Early Life and Career

Erin Ashley Ishay was born on June 10, 2121 in Utopia Colony on Mars; her parents Samuel and Raisa Ishay were Military Officers in the Colonial Militia. With her parents constantly working, Erin had to learn to be self-reliant from a young age. She had a habit of sneaking off after school and exploring the base rather than spending time in the daycare waiting for one of her parents to get off duty. Early on, her parents tried to break her of this habit but they quickly found their efforts were in vain. She only stopped being able to explore when her younger siblings were born. From that day Erin had to change; at eight years old she had to become the responsible big sister. Until her mid-teens Erin would resent her parents for this.

As she got older Erin found she was slowly slipping into the daily routine of watching her siblings. It was strange; at first she hated not being able to do what she wanted, when she wanted. But little by little she found that the routine was actually comforting and having to work her schedule around that challenging but enjoyable. By the time she was sixteen it was all second nature. And quite beneficial; her grades improved, she began to excel at sports and she was able to understand her parents better.

The day Erin signed her enlistment papers was of little surprise to anyone who had seen her change over the last few years. It was a surprise, however, who she signed up with; United Earth’s Military Assault Command Operations. Growing up in her home, United Earth was not a friend, grandparents and several aunts and uncles had been killed during the War of Independence. And while there had been friendly relations between Mars and Earth for her entire life, it was still a sore spot. Despite the somewhat ruffled feathers left at home, Erin wasn’t dissuaded and in a month she was catching a transport Earthside.

Of all the things she experienced in the first few weeks of recruit training, getting used to simply being on Earth was the hardest. Before she joined up, the longest she had ever been on planet was a few hours on a school trip. No domes, no recycled air, green foliage everywhere and the animal life was so abundant, it was quite a change. With the intensity of training ramping up every day, Erin had to quickly learn how to fast track these feelings. Not the easiest thing to do in the world but necessary.

Erin excelled at recruit training, achieving expert marksmanship with the EM-33 Plasma Pistol and Rifle. When graduation came around she was surprised to see her parents there. After the way she had left things with the rest of the family, Erin hadn’t expect to see any of them for a while. It was a bittersweet reunion, however, as neither of her parents had come around enough to approve of her joining a UE force. Her only saving grace in this ongoing family argument was that even on Mars the MACOs are respected; that and her other siblings decided the military wasn’t for them. This gave her just a bit more cover as she was the only one carrying on the family legacy. Thankfully, Erin didn’t have much time to dwell on her family issues, however, shipping out to Infantry Training a few days later and then a five month rotation of Jupiter Station.

Finishing her first round of training in late 2141, Erin was finally given her first assignment. Eager to leave the Sol system Erin was glad when she was assigned to the colonial garrison on Deneva Colony. At first she was excited, expecting it to be a real frontier experience. In some ways she was right; Deneva was isolated from the UE powerbase, the people there mostly governed themselves very much like they did on Mars. Deneva was a comfortable if somewhat boring first assignment, but it gave her time get extra bits of training and qualifications done while still getting field experience. Erin served on Deneva for another two years before being accepted to the Scout/Sniper Training School on Earth. Leaving Deneva was hard on Erin, after spending nearly two and a half years on the colony, she had a grown close to many of the colonists and those in her unit. This was part of Military life and she had to learn how to accept that.

Earth Embassy on Denobula.

After finishing her training at Sniper school Erin was encouraged to apply to join an Embassy Security detachment. Not only was it a great career move but it would also give her a chance to leave Earth-controlled space. Jumping at the chance to experience something so alien, she signed up the next day. While Earth didn’t have formal relations to many alien cultures, the UE had been trying to establish as many embassy posts on the homeworlds and major colonies of her allies as they could. Figuring she would get assigned to one of the smaller embassies, Erin was shocked when she was assigned to the Embassy on Denobula.

The Denobulans were an interesting people, looking and acting very similar to humans but with a few stark differences. It took her some time to get used to being only one of a few thousand humans on a whole planet of “Aliens”. But as she got to observe and even get to know some of the Denobulan people, she stopped noticing them as all that different. Despite these and Earth’s generally good relations, from time to time thing did get a bit strained. It never got to the point where Erin figured that they would actually need to defend the Embassy from attack but her Garrison Commander felt differently. He constantly ran drills for not only defending but for retaking the Embassy in the event they were attacked. While she didn’t agree the threat was a critical as he thought, Erin understood the commanders reasoning. There was a lot of valuable intel in the embassy and if anything were to go wrong it could have been a major blow to Earth. Eventually, as they years went on and relations became more solid, there was never a need to put their drills into practice.

Advanced Infantry Training

After finishing her tour as an Embassy Guard Erin returned to Earth for Advanced Infantry Training; taking courses in Squad Leadership and Martial Arts. Erin did very well in the courses; squad leadership had been emphasized early in training and over her career more than once she had been forced to make a decision in the field. Of the two Erin enjoyed the martial arts more. Not only was learning the skills important but the instructors went out of their way to make it an enjoyable experience. Things were kept light and the trainees all got to know each other very well. When the training cycle was done, Erin was actually sad to go. Before reporting to her next assignment, Erin stopped off on Mars.

It was strange to see how much things had changed since she had last been home. Utopia had grown quite a bit; the colony’s boarders extending at least another kilometer in each direction. On some small parts of the planet there were areas that had been successfully terraformed enough to not need the dome. Although only test cases for full scale terraforming, it showed immense progress had been made. One thing that hadn’t changed was the level of ‘national’ pride for Mars. People were proud to be Martian rather than Terran and while most didn’t harbor any ill will, it wasn’t hard to see that the UE wasn’t exactly a welcome presence there. Her parents strongly shared this view point, still not approving of her joining the “MACOs of all things.” Not wanting to waste her short leave arguing, Erin mostly spent time with her siblings who luckily didn’t hold the same anti-UE attitudes.

1st Expeditionary

Leaving Mars again was hard for Erin but it was worth it to get to her next assignment; the MACO 1st Expeditionary Division one of the combat-focused units in the MACOs. It was by far the proudest day of her career. Assignment to the First had been a turning point for Erin; as her assignments up to now had all be security within Earth for friendly territory. The most combat she had seen up to this point had been pirate raids and boarding actions that usually ended quickly and sometimes without casualties on either side. Erin had just been getting used to this new mindset when pirates attacked Jupiter Station. As part of the force retaking the station, she got her first taste of real fighting. And while she physically came out of the battle unscathed, her attitude did not. Growing up she had always ‘romanticized’ and ‘glorified’ combat but after experiencing it firsthand she just couldn’t see it the same way. This experience, however, didn’t change her mind about the MACOs or their mission as a whole. She was still the same gung ho trooper just with a different mindset and stronger resolve.

After the attack on Jupiter, both Starfleet and the MACOs were very interested in finding the remaining pirates and eliminating their threat. Several vessels were assigned MACO units and tasked with patrolling out from the Sol System in an attempt to locate the pirate bases. Erin’s unit was assigned to the Sarajevo. 2146 was a time of firsts for Erin, having been assigned to the First and now a starship. Having never been on a ship for more than a couple of weeks, it took some time for Erin to get her ‘space legs’. Another adjustment she had to make was always being on a ship; while there was something to always being amongst the stars, she missed having sky overhead.

Over the next several years, the First raided several pirate bases in neighboring systems. Erin had to give the Starfleet crew credit; despite her initially low opinion of the science focused organization, many of the crew were not only professional but competent in combat. Eventually the ‘Janus Pirate Campaigns’ came to a head in 2149 on a raid on a major pirate outpost. While successful, the battle saw the Sarajevo severely damaged and the remaining crew and MACOs reassigned to the Bainbridge.

Advanced Infantry Training Command

After the Janus Campaign, Erin finished her tour aboard the Bainbridge and returned to Earth. Deciding she had no interest in a desk job or security positions Erin was assigned to the AITC as an instructor. After spending so much time in space, it was a nice change of pace to be back on Earth and have a chance to relax, if only a bit. It was also rewarding to help train new MACOs. The break in training cycles also gave Erin a chance to explore the world a bit and go to places she had only seen in photos.

1st Expeditionary

When the Xindi attacked Earth, Erin immediately applied for a transfer back to space service. She had no intention to be ‘sitting pretty’ while they were being attacked. Luckily the most recent training cycle had finished and she was reassigned almost immediately. Erin had hoped to be on the team assigned to Enterprise but instead her unit was diverted to the Florida blast zone. Refugee camps had been set up everywhere and local authorities were getting overwhelmed. The idea was that the MACO presence would help restore order and take some of the pressure off of local services. Taking longer than expected for things to settle down, the MACOs had to gain the trust of those displaced before they could make any traction. Eventually though things calmed down and they were able to help provide security, staff hospitals organize numerous search and rescue operations. Finishing out the year in Florida, they were returned to the Bainbridge in Mid-January 2154. Once the Xindi crisis was over, Erin considered returning to AITC but rejected the idea when she experienced the rampant anti-alien sentiment growing on Earth.

When the Romulan war started Militaries from across the planet and it’s colonies folded their forces into Starfleet and the MACOs to fight the Romulans. Needing a new class of ship than the aging NY’s to not only participate in space combat but transport large numbers of ground troops the DD class was modified for front line service. With the Bainbridge being retired Erin’s unit was assigned to the newly commissioned Suribachi. Despite their eagerness to get in the fight and do their part Erin’s unit didn’t see any ground action against the Romulans until 2156. Early in the war the Romulans had taken Berengaria VII destroying Starbase 1, the Discovery and giving them a beachhead in Coalition territory. Needless to say they could not be allowed to remain on the planet.

The Suribachi along her sister vessels and several other Coalition Vessels were tasked with retaking Berengaria VII. While the Starfleet crews engaged the Romulans in orbit the MACO’s attempted to land on the planet by dropship; many of which were destroyed before they could land. The remaining MACOs had to fight a bloody slog through burnt out of forests and muddy hills before being able to push the Romulans off the colony. The fighting was about as brutal as Erin had ever experienced. After many long hours the small MACO and Coalition force was able to push the Romulans off of Berengaria. Having been wounded during the battle Erin was evacuated to the Andorian Cruiser Docana for recovery. Erin gained a real appreciation of the forces from the Coalition; not just from fighting beside Andorians and Vulcans for the first time but seeing how they took care of each other’s wounded.

The next couple of weeks spent in Recovery and Rehab couldn’t have been over soon enough for Erin. As much as she had come to enjoy the company of Andorians she hated the idea of sitting around the Docana’s sickbay any longer. It was bad enough her unit was out there and she wasn’t, but seeing the aftermath of the battle was definitely an experience she wasn’t eager to repeat. Before she could ship out back to the Suribachi she was visited by a Colonel. He was recruiting MACOs for a special off the books assignment and with her experience as an Embassy Security Guard Erin was an ideal candidate. Not hesitating for a minute Erin boarded a coalition high warp courier ship the next day.

The mixed group of MACOs were half way to their destination before anyone told them what was happening. They were to join a small force protecting the Warp Seven Project on Altair VI. There was concern that if the Romulans found out about the project they would try to capture the research. The initial MACO force had been rather small, Erin’s unit was supposed to offset their numbers enough so that if they were attacked they could hold out long enough for reinforcements to arrive.