Bravo Fleet
Summary
Tav is an eager and overexcited ensign, who’s barely been commissioned long enough to take the plastic scratch-guard off his collar pip. He’s been pretending to be an engineer since the day he could pick up a phase coil de-coupler. Born to a grease monkey mom who basically raised her son in the Fleet Yards, Tav had learned about machine repair before he learned there were books other than technical manuals. Now he’s headed to the USS Columbia to put his skills to the test where it matters most: a shiny (not), new (not) Galaxy-class starship.
Appearance
Tav is all limbs, standing 5’8″ with an almost-6′ arm span. Tav’s doctor always said it was because his mom spent her pregnancy working in low-gravity areas of the yards (against his strictest orders, he always adds)… But something about the way the doc chuckles when he says it makes Tav hesitate to believe him. Tav dyes his hair white, because it makes his ma laugh. Lastly, the amount of grease on Tav’s uniform during his shift is directly proportional to the amount of time he’s been at work – but he always shows up the next day in a fresh uniform.
Personality
Tav’s life has always revolved around machines. His ma was always more interested in her job as a mechanic than her job as a mother, so Tav injected himself into her life by making her passion his passion. Tav is happiest sitting between artificial gravity plates, fiddling with some broken equipment. That’s not to say he doesn’t have other interests – Tav also enjoys any-and-every low-gravity sport he can find. You’ll never find him taking shore leave on Risa – he’ll save up enough leave to take a few weeks, then book a seat on some rickety old cargo shuttle and disappear. Every time he comes back from vacation, he’s raving about “the latest low-grav craze on Ralvia III: sploinkball!” or “this zero-g martial art from a long-dead mushroom civilization: it’s name translates to ‘grease the toaster.'” You wouldn’t be out of line calling Tav a bit eccentric, but he’s always kind and ready to work.
History
Tav’s listed residence was in the city of Chicago for the first 18 years of his life, but he only slept planetside if he had an inconveniently-early appointment. Tav always preferred to bunk somewhere in the Fleet Yards. His mom showed him where the real hiding places were at a young age, so he had no trouble staying out of sight. When he was old enough that his mom’s workshop felt he could contribute, they’d give him little tasks here and there to keep busy. When it became obvious Tav had a real talent for repairs, they pressured their boss into hiring the boy as a real employee. Tav worked at the Yards until he completed high school, when he applied for and was accepted to Starfleet Academy. Tav struggled a bit to adjust to the uniform, structured approach to engineering that Starfleet taught, but the material came easily enough. He just needed to adapt to their methods. Tav’s dream came true when billets were posted: he was headed to the USS Columbia.
Service Record
| Date | Position | Posting | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2401 - Present | Operations | USS Columbia |
 Ensign |