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==Personal History== | ==Personal History== | ||
Matt's early life in Tampa was fairly relaxed, filled with joining forces with his older sister to pick on their younger brother, wreaking minor havoc at his father's work sites, or causing chaos in his mother's classes. The occasional highlights came when his uncle came by to visit, giving the kids stories of his missions with Starfleet. Matt greatly looked up to his uncle, wanting to learn all he could of the man's life in space. | |||
A dream come true came when Matt's uncle invited him to San Francisco to visit Starfleet Headquarters. Finally, Matt had the opportunity to see in person one of the places he'd heard so much about. It was the closing months of the Dominion War, and Starfleet Headquarters was a hotbed of activity. While his uncle could not show him everything, Matt still got a better tour than most. | |||
Unfortunately, their visit coincided with the Breen's entry into the war and their surprise attack on Earth. Several ground installations were hit, a few deemed important enough for the Breen to send ground forces in to spread further chaos. Starfleet Headquarters was one of those locations, Matt and his uncle finding themselves in the middle of the action. Matt's uncle was held captive, Matt hiding close by. Security forces responded, but it became clear to Matt that they didn't know what to do. Matt knew that if he didn't act, his uncle wouldn't make it out of the situation alive. Matt grabbed a nearby piece of debris and attacked the Breen forces from behind, giving security the distraction they needed to move in. | |||
Matt's gambit succeeded; his uncle came out with only minor injuries. Matt, however, took a devastating shot to his right shoulder. The arm could not be saved. Matt felt it a fair trade off; family was always worth self-sacrifice. | |||
What followed was a long time of recovery and adaptation. He was fitted out for an artificial limb. The initial arms he used were strap on. As he was still growing, it made little sense to hard-mount one to him. The first arm was the most difficult for him, as he needed to relearn everything that had once been natural. Never wanting to be limited by his limbs again, Matt took the time to train his left arm to do all the tasks he was relearning with his right. | |||
After high school graduation, Matt received his final, permanently installed limb. He'd long known what he wanted to do with himself once that happened; take steps to ensure what happened to him never happened to anyone else. He also knew he wanted to take a more direct role in that task, take the fight to whatever enemy came at them next. For that role, the Starfleet Marine Corps seemed the most appropriate. | |||
==Chronological Record== | ==Chronological Record== |
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