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Upon graduation, Skokie was assigned to a classified exploration vessel, as an Engineering officer. The reason this ship was declared classified, was due to some experimental technology aboard. During the first few months, Skokie took great care to thoroughly settle into Starfleet life, although not always successfully. For the most part, he got along well, with the crew, outside of one or two ignorant fools, who were unaware of his hot temper.
Then, things got ugly when this ship encountered a band of rogue marauders, bent on establishing their place as a superior warrior race. After the vessel opened fire, a fierce battle ensued and the ship suffered serious damage. Her crew suffered heavy casualties, forcing Swift to perform above and beyond the call of duty.
As the attack continued, with a continuous distress call going out, another Federation ship, the USS Saratoga, was within range and came to the rescue. Unfortunately, it was too late, to save the ship itself, but the escape pods that got off the ship were picked up, by the Saratoga. Subsequently, the marauders' ship, was defeated and driven off, by the Saratoga's heavy weapons fire.
Upon being transported to the Saratoga's base, Deep Space 15, Skokie Swift filed the necessary forms, to transfer to the Saratoga. Once assigned, Ensign Swift continued to serve, to the best of his ability.
After approximately 18 months, Skokie was made Asst Chief of Engineering, where he served for another 6 months before an emergency, forced the then Chief to take a leave of absence. Skokie was appointed acting Chief Engineer, pending arrival of a new Chief Engineering Officer.
Seven months later, while docked at DS 15, the Saratoga suffered a catastrophic system failure, resulting in a warp core breach. Minutes later, the ship exploded in a spectacular blue ball of energy, taking the Captain and a number of crew with her.
Soon, another ship was commissioned, and delivered to Deep Space 15, the USS Zephyr, which Skokie continued to serve as acting Chief Engineer. Before any paperwork could be finalized, however, Skokie received new orders. He was to be transferred to the USS Challenger, to help alleviate the crew shortage.
Notes: Skokie is also sometime known as "Skoke", or "Swifty" by close friends.
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Skokie Swift was born, on March 22, 2358, in New Chicago, to Samuel and Margaret Swift. His childhood was typical of a smart-alecky kid, getting into fights whenever anyone made the mistake of teasing him about his first name. Skokie learned to channel his temper to the boxing ring, steadily rising through the weight classes, losing very few bouts. He has two brothers, Roger and Thomas.
By the time he reached high school, his athletic prowess was the talk of interscholastic sports news. Skokie not only was a champion boxer, but quite the football player too. His speed on the gridiron had fans shouting "'Skokie Swift', comin' down the track!" Football was another natural outlet for Skokie's aggressive tendencies, as well.
One summer, while piloting his friend's speedboat, it caught some rough water and flipped, end-over-end, throwing Skokie about 40 feet to the left. At the same time he hit the water, a fragment of the boat's tianium hull struck him, at the base of his skull, near his left ear. Skokie was extremely fortunate to suffer a mild concussion.
Mr. Swift learned of his namesake, purely by accident, during a history class. He was doing research on 20th-Century America, when he stumbled across a holo-report on the Chicago Transit Authority's history. There, Skokie learned of the alternate name for the Yellow Line of the CTA's Rapid Transit System, the "Skokie Swift". It was then, Skokie became proud of his name and made plans to get a tattoo, of the railcar depicted in the report.
It took some convincing on Skokie's part, aided by his football and boxing buddies, but after about six months, when Skokie turned 16, his father gave him permission to get the tattoo, which he had done on the lower right forearm. Thr rationale was, that it wasn't anything derogatory, pornographic or occultic.
Once Skokie had the "tat" done, he went right back to concentrating on his education, being he wanted to enter Starfleet Academy. Taking the required courses, for his chosen field, Engineering, meant the next 3½ years would be spent studying and working hard to keep in excellent physical shape. Mr. Swift's efforts paid off, for he passed the grueling battery of tests, both academic and physical and was accepted into Starfleet Academy
Skokie's Academy days were typical of a cadet, yet he did manage to still get into scrapes that would test the patience of just about everyone around him! There were times, when other cadets would tease him about his first name and Skokie would haul off and deck one or two, but then an astute instructor directed Skokie to, where else, but the boxing ring. Four years later, Mr. Swift graduated Starfleet Academy with slightly above average grades, ready for his first assignment.
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