Didrik Stennes

Didrik Nikolaj Stennes
USS Drake, USS Columbia, USS Darwin-A, USS Blackwell
236004.15 239612.24
Tromsø, Norway, Earth
Aged	36
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Main Page Service Ribbons Explorer's Ribbon Purple Heart Peacekeeper Service Ribbon Klingon Invasion Ribbon Innovation Ribbon Legion of Merit Prometheus Ribbon Lifesaving Ribbon First Contact Ribbon Galactic War with the Borg Service Medal Awards Pilot's Sextant Sheathed Sword TOSMA Russ Bar Order of the Valiant Heart 1-year Member
In Memoriam

Didrik Nikolaj Stennes (born 15 April 2360) is a human officer in the Federation Starfleet, currently a Lieutenant junior grade assigned to the USS Drake as a helm officer.

Stats

• Full Name: Didrik Nikolaj Stennes
• Race: Human
• Date of Birth: 236004.15
• Place of Birth: Tromsø, Norway, Earth
• Age: 28
• Gender: Male
• Telepathic status: N/A

Appearance

• Height: 181 cm (5' 11)
• Weight: 109 kg (240 lbs / 17st 2lbs)
• Hair Color: Brown
• Length of Hair: Short
• Eye Color: Brown
• Skin tone: Fair
• Birthmarks/scars: None
• Tattoos/Body Modifications: None
• Build: Husky, solid
• Taste in Clothing (when off duty): Usually wears a vest or jacket
• Voice: Speaks English with a slight Norwegian accent. Prone to absent-minded lapses into Norwegian on occasion.
• Handedness: Left

Manner

• Quarters: Standard junior officers shared quarters
• Habits: Nervously adjusts his eyeglasses when unsure what to say or how to act.
• Mannerisms: Makes jokes when nervous
• Religion/Spiritual Devotion: Baptized Church of Norway, not religious in practice
• Hobbies and Pastimes: Hiking, hockey, writing, languages
• Likes: Solitude, wilderness
• Dislikes: Violence, raucous crowds, people who raise their voices
• Ambitions and Goals: To figure out what kind of life he really wants
• Achievements in Life: Graduated from Starfleet Academy
• Disappointments in Life: Unlucky in love
• Temperament:
• Mental problems (complexes and phobias):
• Physical Limitations: Requires corrective lenses after suffering an eye injury on an away mission.

Family

• Father: Harald Stennes
  • Date of Birth: Stardate 232401.15
  • Place of Birth: Vardø, Norway, Earth
• Mother: Hera Guldbrandsen
  • Date of Birth: Stardate 232305.18
  • Place of Birth: Tromsø, Norway, Earth
• Brothers: Ulf (b. 2356), Tobias (b. 2357), Søren (b. 2368)
• Sisters: Katarine (b. 2354), Hanne (b. 2363)
• Spouse: None
• Children: None

Biography

Early life

Didrik Nikolaj Stennes was born on 15 April 2360 in Tromsø, Norway, on Earth. He was the fourth of six children born to Harald Stennes, a correspondent for the Federation News Service, and Hera Guldbrandsen, founder of a charitable organization that worked to rebuild Bajor following its occupation by the Cardassians. His parents' respective work occasionally kept them away from Earth when Didrik was growing up, and he often stayed with his maternal grandparents, Didrik and Tea Guldbrandsen. On a few occasions, however, he accompanied his parents on their travels; he visited Bajor twice with his mother in 2370 and 2371, and traveled to Tellar, Vulcan and Alpha Centauri with his father during the summer of 2373. As a child, Didrik developed a great fondness for the outdoors, something that would remain with him throughout his life. He also demonstrated an interest and talent for writing, and initially wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and become a journalist.

Didrik's father was reporting for the News Service on Betazed when the Dominion invaded and occupied the planet in 2374, leaving him stranded. From this point forward, Didrik became preoccupied with learning everything he could about the war, its combatants and battles. He followed every development closely, often to the distraction of his school studies, and even built a map of the Alpha Quadrant in his bedroom to track battle developments the News Service reported. By the time the war ended, Didrik had a new focus; he wanted to study Tactical at Starfleet Academy. His parents disapproved of this, as the Stenneses were not a military family.

Didrik applied to Starfleet Academy after he graduated high school in 2378, but his grades didn't match his ambitions and his application was rejected. A family friend (and Starfleet lieutenant) recommended that some further study at a university might strengthen Didrik's application to the Academy, so he enrolled at the University of Bergen as a Military History major. Upon his graduation from the University in 2382, Didrik reapplied to the Academy, and was accepted.

Starfleet Academy

At the Academy, Didrik was a Tactical major and pursued minors in Navigation and Communications. He briefly wrote for the Academy newspaper and was a member of the junior varsity volleyball team. During his time at the Academy, he demonstrated strengths in languages, combat and diplomacy, and discovered he was an exceptional pilot, but struggled in the areas of engineering, chemistry and xenobiology. By the end of his second year, his poor scores in these disciplines lowered his grade average such that Admiral Wagner refused to be the faculty adviser for Didrik's junior thesis on the use of guerilla tactics in the last days of the Dominion War.

In the fall of 2384, Didrik began his third year at the Academy on shaky ground. Depressed at his poor performance in some of his core courses and buckling under the stress of trying to catch up, he quickly grew discouraged and disillusioned with life as a Starfleet cadet. He took a leave of absence from the Academy in November 2384, not fully intending to return.

After leaving the Academy, Didrik spent the next several weeks at home in Tromsø, and sunk into a deep depression. To help him recover, his mother suggest he accompany her on one of her trips to Bajor. He agreed, and the two left for Bajor in January 2385. Inspired by the success of the rebuilding efforts on Bajor, but recognizing that much work was still left to be done, Didrik moved to a village in Rakantha Province and began working as a teacher. It was there that he was able to develop the confidence in himself that was missing during his first years at the Academy, and he resumed research and write his thesis in his spare time. Upon his completion, Didrik sent a copy to Admiral Wagner at the Academy, but never received a response. Also during his time on Bajor, Didrik began a relationship with Elrem Tiro, a Bajoran teacher at the school where he worked. By September 2385, Didrik and Tiro were planning a vacation to Casperia Prime, and had also discussed moving in together.

Didrik's leave of absence provided him with the clarity and sense of purpose he'd lost, and his desire to continue his tactical studies was rekindled. In November 2385, he contacted the Academy and applied to be re-admitted. Admiral Wagner endorsed his application, and he was invited to return. Didrik's decision to leave Bajor came as a surprise to Tiro, who offered to leave everything and accompany Didrik back to Earth. Didrik refused, and the relationship ended.

Upon returning to Earth, Didrik re-enrolled in the Academy, resuming his studies in mid-2386. He proceeded through the remainder of his classes at the Academy on Earth, publishing his thesis: "Behavior of the Individual: On the Use of Single-Soldier Guerilla Tactics by the Cardassian Underground During the Dominion War."

Finishing his final series of courses in December 2387 he began his cadet cruise in January 2388. For the first six months, he served aboard the USS Belgrade as she patrolled the Cardassian border. In July 2388, he transferred to Starbase 118 where he completed his cadet training. He graduated from the Academy on Stardate 238811.13, earning a commission with the rank of Ensign.

USS Drake

In November 2388, shortly after his graduation, Didrik was posted to the USS Drake NCC-1987 as helm officer. Immediately after reporting for duty, he was ordered to pilot the shuttlecraft Portebelo on an away mission to a Tellarite orbital facility. He and Lt. Commander Solok were successful in rescuing Lt. Commanders Whale and Danzia, Ensign Luna and Cadet Klaar from the facility, and made first contact with a form of artificial intelligence that inhabited the ring for a short time before disappearing. Although the shuttle sustained heavy damage from the gravimetric distortions surrounding the planet, Ensign Stennes piloted the Portebelo to safety, with the crew suffering only minor injuries.

In early 2389, Stennes and the Drake crew searched the area between Earth and Alpha Centauri for a missing shuttle containing Lt. Commander David Whale. Stennes and Lt. Commander Aron Kells worked together to modify the Drake's sensors and plot the most likely areas to search for the shuttle. While conducting the search, the Drake was pulled into an anomaly and deposited into a previously unexplored dimension later dubbed "null space." With traditional impulse and warp engines unavailable, a network of sails was deployed to the hull to ride particle streams moving through null space, thereby providing propulsion. Stennes supervised the installation of the sails and manually maneuvered the Drake through the streams. Commander Will Rogers ordered Stennes to lead an away team to a nearby planet, where a Gorn ship carrying a cache of dilithium had crashed. Departing the Drake with Ensign Marcus Sung, Chief Petty Officer Jane Van Klaveren, Petty Officer Domane Mint and Crewman Thy'lek, Stennes' orders were to secure the dilithium and attempt contact with another away team already on the planet. During a rough landing, Didrik suffered a lacerated cornea and subsequent globe rupture in his right eye.

Stennes' team successfully located the dilithium inside an unmanned Gorn spacecraft, but while returning to the shuttlecraft, Stennes' came into contact with an atmospheric mist that appears as part of the planet's weather system. The mist alters the genes of living organisms it contacts, leaving Stennes unable to be rescued by the Drake's transporter. After the rest of the away team were beamed back to the Drake, Stennes repaired the shuttle's propulsion system and flew it back into space, where he was tractored aboard and treated by the Drake's medical staff. The genetic damage was repaired, though he was left with a minor vision impairment that thereafter necessitated the use of corrective lenses.

Starfleet Service Record

Insignia	Rank	Dates	Posting	Assignment
	Cadet 4th Class	238209.01 - 238308.31	Starfleet Academy San Francisco, Earth	Student Major: Tactical • Minors: Navigation, Communications
	Cadet 3rd Class	238309.01 - 238408.31
	Cadet 2nd Class	238409.01 - 238412.31
Leave of Absence from Starfleet Academy
	Cadet 2nd Class	238605.01 - 238612.31	Starfleet Academy San Francisco, Earth	Student Major: Tactical • Minors: Navigation, Communications
	Cadet 1st Class	238701.01 - 238712.31
		238801.01 - 238806.20	Cadet Cruise USS Belgrade NCC-70779	Trainee Cadet
		238806.21 - 238811.13	Cadet Cruise Starbase 118	Trainee Cadet
	Ensign	238811.13 - 238904.17	USS Drake NCC-1987	Helm Officer
	Lieutenant JG	238904.17 - Present

Timeline

2388

• Stardate 238812.03: Pilots shuttlecraft Portebelo on away mission to Tellarite orbital facility. Assists in the rescue of four USS Drake crewmembers and makes first contact with an artificial intelligence inhabiting the facility.

2389

• Stardate 238902.05: USS Drake is pulled into another dimension (referred to as null space) while looking for a lost shuttle carrying Lt. Cmdr. Whale.
• Stardate 238902.26: Commands an away team for the first time. Leads five-person team onto a planet in null space to locate dilithium from a crashed Gorn ship.
• Stardate 238903.04: Suffers a lacerated cornea and resulting globe rupture during a shuttle crash onto a planet in null space.
• Stardate 238903.17: Comes into contact with a DNA-altering condensate endemic to null space.
• Stardate 238903.27: Returns to normal space. Fully recovers from contact with Mist. Eye injury leaves a minor, but permanent vision impairment. Henceforth uses corrective lenses.
• Stardate 238904.17: Promoted to Lieutenant junior grade; awarded Purple Heart ribbon for injuries sustained in null space.

Personality

A new Starfleet officer, Didrik lacks a self-confidence that comes with experience. Despite being nearly 30 years old, he has only just earned his commission, and because of this, he feels he doesn't quite fit in with his cohort of new ensigns, nor would he feel comfortable around officers his own age, many of whom far outrank him. His teenage obsession with the progression of the Dominion War fueled his desire for a life in Starfleet, but he is discovering, at 28 years old, that not every hobby makes a good career.

Despite his self-doubt and his shortcomings in certain areas (physics and engineering, especially), he proved to be an intelligent tactician at the Academy, but an even better pilot. He scored in the top 4% in his core piloting class, and was highly encouraged by his professor to change his focus from Tactical to Navigation. Didrik refused, but later relented, slightly, pursuing a Navigation minor. A natural pilot, Didrik's grades were somewhat higher in his navigation minor courses than his tactical major ones. His relative underperformance in his core and major disciplines was one of the factors that motivated him to withdraw from the Academy in his third year.

Physically, Didrik is bulkier than the average human. He is self-conscious about his forehead, which he thinks is too large. Born with a healthy Norwegian appetite, he has never met a food replicator that he didn't like, and he must make himself exercise regularly to avoid putting on too much weight. His stomach doesn't tolerate alcohol or synthale, and even coffee and tea upset his system, so his beverage of choice is almost always water chilled to 0.15˚C.

Ambitions

Didrik initially resented his posting to the Drake, as being a helm officer conflicted with his long-held dreams of working in tactical. He disliked his position at first, largely because he held a stereotypically negative view of Starfleet pilots and hated the thought of himself being a member of their tribe. As time passed, however, as he proved an able pilot, he grew into his job, and has now been exposed to the infinite career opportunities for a Starfleet officer. Didrik quickly tired of being the lowest-ranking bridge officer aboard the Drake. He admires those of his colleagues who've moved up the ladder from their respective departments and into command, and has recently thought of doing the same at some point in the future.

Relationships

Family

Didrik cares deeply for his family, though some more than others. As one of six children, there was a great deal of competitiveness and jealousy amongst his siblings when they were young, and a degree of that has carried over into their adulthoods. Didrik is closest to his sister Katarine, who is six years his senior and helped to raise him while his parents were working off-world. Didrik is jealous of his older brother Tobias, whose talent for writing earned their father's favor.

His relationship with his mother nearly ended in 2374, when he discovered she was having an affair with a neighbor while her husband was stranded on Dominion-occupied Betazed. While they have managed to mend some fences in the decade since, the fact that she refuses to come clean about the now 14-year-long extramarital relationship continues to complicate things.

Facts and Miscellany

• Federation Standard pronunciation of Didrik's surname "Stennes" is "STENZ," however the proper Norwegian pronunciation is "STENN-ess."