Aiden Connolly

Early Life

The second child of Malcolm and Hope Connolly, Aiden was born on 12th November 2375 in New York City on Earth. His older sister, Erica, was born seven years earlier. Aiden’s parents were both civilians, Hope was a lawyer in New York and Malcolm was the Principal Conductor of the New York Philharmonic. The family lived in Brooklyn and would often spend holidays in the family’s second home in Ireland.

Growing up, Aiden spent a great deal of time watching his father practice the cello. He developed a deep love of music during these early years but wouldn’t go onto learn to play an instrument himself, preferring to listen to music rather than play it. Instead, Aiden preferred to play sports and developed a particular love of swimming and rugby. In high school he would be part of the school’s swim team.

Despite the seven year difference in their ages, Aiden has always been very close to his sister. When she went off to the Academy, Erica was sent to the Mellstoxx III campus so returning home to visit wasn’t easy but she would write letters to Aiden every week. It was her joining Starfleet that convinced Aiden to do the same but he didn’t want to be an engineer, he wanted to be a tactical officer.

Career

Starfleet Academy

Determined to succeed at the Academy, Aiden applied himself from the beginning to the detriment of his social life. It took a few months before he started to feel like he was missing out on the more social aspects of Academy life so he spent less time on his studies and started going out with classmates, some of whom quickly became close friends. His grades did suffer for this but he was still achieving good grades and found a balance between his studies and having a social life.

As his second year became his third, Aiden was more interested in guys and drinking and less interested in his studies. He stopped replying to the weekly letters he and his sister had swapped since she left for the Academy almost a decade earlier. His best friend tried to steer him back in the right direction but Aiden wouldn’t listen. 

The week before the winter break, once he’d scraped a pass in his exams, is a blank for Aiden. Even years later he can’t remember anything of it, other than going to a party on the night he finished his exams. The next thing he remembers is waking up next to a guy he couldn’t remember ever meeting with his sister, who was supposed to be on the Challenger banging on his door. It turned out she’d taken leave to investigate why her brother had stopped replying to her letters. She forced Aiden to examine his behaviour and to see help for it.

That winter break was not a pleasant one but his sister remained by his side throughout it and when he returned to the Academy in the New Year, Aiden made a fresh start. While he still enjoyed a social life, he remained dry and would continue to do so, the main focus of his remaining time at the Academy was his studies.

Starbase Bravo

Aiden graduated in 2397 and was commissioned an Ensign. Despite his difficulties, his final grade was below average and he felt a plum assignment was out of the question. Predictably, his first set of orders were to report to Starbase Bravo, as a tactical officer. Naturally Aiden was disappointed by this assignment but after talking to Erica, he decided that he would have to work hard to prove that his below average grade at the Academy was not truly reflective of his abilities and prove to his superiors that he would be an asset to any starship crew.

After spending three years as an ensign, convinced that his record at the Academy was working against him, Aiden was finally promoted to lieutenant junior grade and decided to switch to the Strategic Operations track.