Thaustin

Political Information

• Affiliation: Starfleet, United Federation of Planets

Family

• Mother: Megra, Starfleet Captain (retired)
• Father:  Chessick, Starfleet Captain (retired)

Biography

Early Life

Thaustin was born during a rare period in his parents’ lives when they were both stationed on Azati Prime. At that point, both of his parents had established careers in the fleet, both Lieutenant Commanders, his mother working for Starfleet Science and his father working for the Starfleet Corps of Engineers. His birth was somewhat unexpected but certainly not unwelcome.

When he was three, he moved to Deep Space 4 with his parents. Unlike most children in that situation, though, he developed above-average socialisation skills and found interacting with other people his age easy. His grades in school were not especially remarkable, as he was usually more focused on his social life than his grades. His academic achievement was a source of contention for his parents, who both had advanced degrees and expected him to do exceptionally well in the Federation education system. There was always an expectation that he could do better, no matter what grades he brought home, which frustrated Thaustin often. By his secondary school years, he did begin to show a talent for athletics, languages and logic problems. Still, he lacked his parent’s raw abilities in the science and engineering fields. When his mother was offered command of her own vessel, and his father (who had left to command a repair facility in the Vega system), Thaustin had to choose which parent he would join. He picked his mother, who was given command of a brand-new Obena-class ship.

During the last few years of his schooling, he found his first forays into the romantic arena without much significant success. One night, after being caught in a compromising position with his mother’s first officer’s son, his mother sent him to stay with his father at the repair yard he commanded. Though it was not child-friendly, Thaustin did enjoy attending a proper school planetside on Vega. Two of his teachers inspired him to do better with his grades, and after many late nights studying, he left school with decent grades. He spent the next couple of years working at the yard his father was in command of. Naturally, working within Starfleet convinced him he should pursue a career within the fleet and follow his parents.

Starfleet Career

Early Career

As a Starfleet Academy cadet, he quickly discovered that his natural looks and charms would not allow him to slip through the cracks of the system, as had more often been the case in his prior schooling. This was a good thing, though; when forced to apply himself, his intelligence was quite impressive. His talent for logic puzzles became a talent for cryptology and mathematics, while his natural charisma caused him to do well in leadership exercises. While at the academy, he enjoyed the cultural studies lecturers led by one of his professors, Rio Canção. Her stories from commanding many ships and meeting new races and people inspired him to carry on pursuing this line of learning.

He continued to excel in athletics and physical training exercises. He did pick up boxing and hand phaser marksmanship as his chosen combat training options, though, and managed to gain excellent proficiency in both. In many ways, Thaustin was a diplomat and not a fighter, preferring to talk to new alien cultures, not to shoot them. Despite this, he did recognise the need for Starfleet as the Federation’s primary line of defence. Hearing old war stories from Canção made him realise, however important it was to speak first, there were those in the galaxy who didn’t always want to talk or listen.

Nevertheless, his passion for getting to know others remained constant, and he developed a reputation for becoming quite the playboy. In his fourth year, Canção (who was transferring to the Mellstoxx III campus) suggested to Thaustin that a change of scenery would do him good. After almost failing one of his final exams in the third year, Thaustin agreed and went to Mellstoxx III. More focussed on his work, Canção’s suggestion worked, and even when he entered into a relationship with a fellow cadet, Craigen Flemen, for the first time, he remained loyal and enjoyed being in a stable relationship.

When he came to graduate in 2391, he and Craigen mutually agreed to end their relationship. It was short and sweet but enjoyable. Thaustin achieved top marks in his chosen major fields, Interstellar Relations and Cryptology, and by the time he graduated as an Ensign, he was fifth in his class.

USS Artume (NCC-83017)

His first assignment as an ensign was as a diplomatic support officer on board the USS Artume, an Obena-class that was once under his mother’s command. Though she had recently retired, his mother serving on board the Artume gave him a slight edge compared to the other junior officers due to some of the senior officers there giving him the slack due to who his mother was. This didn’t bother Thaustin at first. For the next three years, he worked hard and began dating a Bolian woman named Trishna (an engineer). The two became serious, and Thaustin was considering asking her to marry him, but devastation hit him when she died during an away mission while helping to evacuate a science station under the besiege of a plasma storm. Trishna’s loss affected him badly, and Thaustin considered leaving the service. However, with some help from others, he turned himself around and became the assistant chief diplomatic officer, promoted to lieutenant junior grade in 2394.

While still on the Artume, he took up the opportunity to undertake the advanced tactical training course and, in 2396, was promoted to the full rank of lieutenant and made responsible for taking on duties as the Gamma Shift Officer of the Watch. In 2398, while the ship was engaging Breen forces that had attacked a Federation trading outpost, several bridge crew were killed. Thaustin ended up temporarily assuming command while the captain was being treated. He was able to outsmart the remaining Breen ship and save not only the ship and the outpost but also capture the attacking ship by being able to hack their communication device and seize computer control. After towing it back to the nearest starbase, where its crew were taken into custody, Thaustin’s captain promoted him to lieutenant commander, making him the chief diplomatic officer and second officer. He remained in the spot for several months before his former mentor approached him to join her on her new command.

USS Triton (NCC-80106)

When Captain Canção requested him to join him as her first officer, he was slightly reluctant at the offer at first, but after she insisted he took the bridge officer’s exam (even though he didn’t need to do it), she proved to him he was ready to become her Number One. At the end of 2400, she promoted him to commander, and the two became a well-oiled machine as the ship travelled and explored the Delta Quadrant.

Devastation would hit the ship in 2401, when it was involved in defending Federation territory against the Dominion. After a brief respite in the Alpha Quadrant, the Triton and many other ships in the Fourth Fleet were ordered to the Deneb Sector to defend the Federation when the Dominion’s Lost Fleet attacked it. During an attempt to save millions of Federation colonists, Captain Canção sacrificed her life so that the Triton would succeed in its mission. The loss of his mentor and someone he respected hit Thaustin hard. He struggled to come to terms with her loss, and when Starfleet assigned a temporary captain to the Triton, Thaustin found it challenging to bridge a connection with his new captain and the crew. It took the events of Frontier Day to force him, the crew and Captain Horatio McCallister to work together to ensure they endured the crisis. Though the Triton was heavily damaged and its crew were forced to abandon ship, Thaustin was among the survivors who were eventually rescued, drifting in Earth orbit after Admiral Picard dealt with the Jupiter Signal.

As repairs to the Triton would take some time, Starfleet decided to redeploy its crew elsewhere in the fleet. Keen to keep as many of them in his squadron, Fleet Captain James Preston McCallister was able to transfer a majority of the Triton‘s crew to a new ship or elsewhere in his squadron.

USS Constitution (NCC-91701)

Command of the new Constitution was assigned to Horatio McCallister, who immediately selected Thaustin as his new first officer. They would be merging the crew of the Triton with his former command (the Bellerophon), and he wanted Thaustin by his side to assist with this.

Initially, Thaustin did not get on with McCallister. Though they had worked well together during the Frontier Day disaster, Thaustin felt that McCallister’s choices of senior staff positions were questionable. In one particular spot, he outright disagreed with McCallister, which was the promotion and appointment of Lieutenant Commander Rubon Jarata to the role of third officer. Though Jarata had served in this position on the Bellerophon, Thaustin still felt he wasn’t qualified or experienced for it. McCallister’s decision was final, and Thaustin did not behave himself initially after that, which forced McCallister to reprimand him for his behaviour.

When the Constitution had returned to the Swallow Nebula region in the Delta Quadrant, it was pulled over three thousand light years away. When it was discovered that the ship had been pulled there by a Sikiarian colony, whose leader was interested in eventually stealing their database (an act they had performed on other ships), Thaustin’s support of the captain’s decision on how to handle the situation was critical to their success. Though they were able to forge a temporary alliance with a Hirogen hunting party to stop the Sikarians from pulling any more ships, the end result required the crew to make the biggest sacrifice. They were forced to destroy the enhancements the Sikarians had made to their trajector technology and their research. It did strand them three years away from where they were, but Thaustin found a new level of respect for Captain McCallister as they worked on the problem together. During this mission also, he resolved his issues with some of the younger crew, whom he blamed for their involvement as Borg drones during the Frontier Day disaster. Furthermore, he got to know Jarata and the two became extremely close after saving each other’s lives.