David Martel: Difference between revisions

Just starting out on his first assignment, Ensign Martel is feeling out his new colleagues.

He has a very close relationship with his parents, his father Robert has managed to not only be an advisor and mentor to David, but has managed to be a true friend.

His mother, Jennifer, has been the calming influence in David's life. She taught him to see beauty and that while aspiring to be a soldier was honorable and good, there was more to life then tactics and marksmanship. Most importantly, she did the most of anyone to teach David to laugh.

David's younger brother Aaron has just been accepted into Starfleet Academy, though Aaron has been drawn into more scientific pursuits, particularly in the fields of molecular biology and nanotechnology. While David is considered an intelligent and even somewhat gifted, Aaron is a downright genius and they have debated the direction Starfleet should take, at times heatedly. Despite this they remain close.

David's youngest brother Adam is something of an enigma, even to David. They have a solid enough relationship, but Adam is somewhat socially awkward and keeps to himself. Apparently he has shown promise in the field of warp engineering, but has shown little of the interest in Starfleet that his older brothers have. However, Adam is only 16 and time will tell on what path he takes in life.

{{Heading|Background|Gold}}

Born on Starbase 96, David grew up around Starfleet. His father was a member of Starfleet Intelligence for well over 20 years. His mother was as well but decided to give up her commission to raise her children and pursue a writing career. Having grown up on Starbases and starships, Martel never wavered in his desire to join Starfleet.  

Though his parents pedigree was Intelligence, Martel's interest in everything martial made it inevitable he would gravitate towards the Tactical or Security fields.

He has avidly played hockey since childhood as well as been active in various martial arts. He spent most of his formative years on the icy colony world of Astalon Prime, where his family settled after his father retired from Starfleet Intelligence.  

His parents fell in love with the world while his father served his last assignment at the Starfleet Intelligence base there, despite the heavier gravity. The gravity of Astalon Prime also had the effect of somewhat strengthening David's already heavy musculature.

{{Heading|Personality|Gold}}

Inquisitive by nature, David goes by the credo, "Information is ammunition." This is due in no small part by having parents who served in Starfleet Intellimission.

David is friendly and social. He likes interacting with people and experiencing new cultures and points of view. However if something conflicts with his ethics, he will put a brake on it unless he is in the culture's "house", in which case, in proper Federation fashion he will grin and bear it.... without a lot of grinning.

He also has come to an early understanding that to defeat red tape, he needs to get in good with members of various departments and will cultivate relationships with certain members of said departments. This isn't to say he is a heartless go getter, the friendships usually are genuine. He just understands that such friendships can be handy and make his life easier when given a task or mission.

He does believe in proper chain of command and military decorum for the most part, and can be mildly uncomfortable with senior officers with a more casual attitude. He does worry that familiarity breeds contempt, though he does try to relax around those officers who's command style is more "family" then "military", with varying degrees of success.

He dislikes bullies and has gone out of his way to fight them since childhood. He also dislikes those who are derelict in their duties and corruption, as he feels such actions harm the command he is serving with and Starfleet as a whole, which the young man finds intolerable.

{{Heading|Interests|Gold}}

A bit of an amateur historian, Martel has a particular interest in military history and is an admirer of the Roman Legions. He also enjoys sparring with holographic opponents and warlike holo simulations involving ancient times, not always Earth's either.

His favorite downtime activity is playing what he cryptically calls his "walking tank simulation", usually on his PADD but preferably in a holosuite.