Robert Callahan

Early Life

Born in 2374, the first eleven years of Robert Callahan’s life were spent in Mariner City, a biodome settlement on Mars. His mother was a Starfleet engineer at the Utopia Planitia Shipyards, and he and his siblings enjoyed a comfortable, happy upbringing in the heart of Federation space. He was an active child, more interested in sports than his schooling, which was something of a source of tension between him and his parents.

But in 2385 was the Attack on Mars. Because he was in school at the time, Robert and his siblings were among the earliest evacuated in Starfleet’s initial response. From the window of a shuttle entering orbit, he watched as the planet’s atmosphere ignited and Utopia Planitia Shipyards collapsed under the fire of the synth attack. Out of what he would later describe as shock, Robert recorded the experience on his PADD and shared the footage. This made him one of the faces of the atrocity for a time, particularly when it was learnt that neither of his parents survived the attack.

He and his siblings were taken in by an uncle on Archer IV, unsurprisingly changed by the experience. Robert became more serious, and counsellors identified his sudden focus on his studies as an effort to achieve a sense of control over his life after the senseless tragedy. While professional help assisted him in processing what he had been through, it did not deter him from his new ambition: to join Starfleet.

Starfleet Career

Hard work secured him not just acceptance at the Academy, but a place at the prestigious San Francisco campus. There he threw himself not just into his studies, but the Academy life, captaining the Parrises Squares team in his senior year. He graduated high in his class with joint honours in Criminal Justice and Psychology, trained as a security officer. He had particularly thrived under the modern Starfleet ethos of protection and safety, clashing with older instructors who tried to reinforce the old ideals he deemed naive. Blind acceptance of others had led the Federation to create a form of life that went on to slaughter thousands, and in his eyes, the galaxy was a dangerous place to be guarded against.

Callahan’s first assignment was at Starbase 211, near the border with the Cardassian Union. With shipments between the Federation and Union often under attack, and the breakdown of the Union’s border control, there was plenty to keep a security officer busy. Illicit cargo, smuggling operations, and possible enemy threats were all considerations in managing incoming traffic, but there was another responsibility that had not occurred to Callahan from his detached position of Academy training. Those who lived and made their livelihoods in the region needed protecting, and this was best done by building close bonds with the civilians aboard. Despite all of Callahan’s cynicism and pain, he was overall driven by a desire to keep people safe.

Starbase Bravo

In 2398, he became eligible for advancement to lieutenant junior grade, and was a year later offered a posting on a starship. Instead, he requested assignment to another starbase, finding he valued work which let him lay down roots and directly impact people’s lives. He was posted to Starbase Bravo, which proved a safer and less volatile location than SB211. After a year of building bonds with the staff and inhabitants of the promenade and commercial docks, he was assigned as an Investigations Officer to handle criminal investigations, largely focused on the civilian sections of the base.