Boyd Henry Lawton

Summary
Boyd Henry Lawton is a human male from Earth, and the current Chief of CONN aboard the USS Lammergeier assigned to Task Force 11 and the exploration of the Shackleton Expanse. He is the youngest of five brothers, and the first generation of his family to serve within Starfleet, having been born to a long family line of musicians and performers.

A remarkably deft-handed individual, Boyd grew up harboring secret aspirations of someday exploring the far reaches of the heavens as a member of Starfleet, a desire which his father fostered in him much to the chagrin of his mother. Denied early admittance to Starfleet by his mother, despite having met the requisite gradings, Boyd did eventually find his way to the Academy after having reached the age of eighteen, and he’s never looked back. After graduation, Boyd was posted as the assistant Chief of the CONN aboard the USS Gallant, a Defiant-class starship assigned to escort duty during the relief effort the Federation had undertaken in the wake of the destruction of Cardassia Prime. Later, upon receiving his first ever promotion, he was transferred to the USS Lammergeier where due to unforeseen circumstances he would serve not as an Assistant Chief CONN Officer, but as the Chief proper.

Excited to serve as a Departmental Chief, Boyd is the youngest member of the Senior Staff, but is determined to prove himself to the stalwart legend which commands the Lammergeier and earn the respect of his peers.

2355 - 2373: Growing up in Atlanta
Born in Atlanta on Earth, Boyd Henry Lawton is the youngest of five brothers and the son of Abraham and Olivia Lawton, a pair of semi-famous professional musicians. His mother, a concert pianist, hails from a long line of professional musicians, also mostly pianists, dating back to the early 21st-Century. Early on, it was all-but expected that like his older brothers, he too would follow in the footsteps of his forebearers, and truth be told, that was the path that Boyd was on, having adopted the Alto Saxophone as his instrument of preference. But in the spring of 2368, during a school-led trip to visit the Starfleet Museum in orbit, young Boyd developed a deep-abiding fascination with space, and the ongoing exploration of it.

Returning home, he hid his burgeoning obsession at first, but eventually confided about it in the one member of his family whom he had connected to on a deeper level, his sometimes-rebellious father. Abraham had himself envisioned a life in Starfleet during his youth, though it had never materialized into anything beyond a fascination, yet in his son, he could see it as something greater, and in conflict of the wishes of his wife, Boyd’s mother, he encouraged Boyd to seek it out in earnest. Late at night, when all of Body’s brothers were already asleep, Boyd and his father would read excerpts of missions that Starfleet had been engaged in; they would study star charts, and the publicly available specification entries regarding Starfleet ship designs.

By the time of his teens, Boyd had made it abundantly clear to both of his parents, his intent to apply for early admission into Starfleet, a process which required the consent of them. And, while his father was more than willing to give his son the endorsement, his mother, fearful that her son would disappear into the far reaches of space, never to return, while also preferring a simpler life for her son, refused. Boyd was incensed by his mother’s refusal, and his mother in turn blamed Boyd’s father for having manifested that resentment by nurturing his boyhood dream. The parents soon grew deeply disconnected, and with Boyd’s brothers all having left home to live on their own, each a musician, divorce seemed to be an inevitability which proved true just prior to Boyd’s 18th birthday.

Desperate to start his career, yet worried to leave his now single-father alone and estranged from the rest of the family, Boyd would’ve stalled his admission into Starfleet, were it not for his father’s insistence to the otherwise.

2373 - 2377: Starfleet Academy
Arriving in San Francisco, Boyd began his first-year as a Cadet with a specialization in security, but by the end of the third semester, Guidance Counselors had recognized his true potential as a pilot and recommended a change. From that point on, his career took a marked upswing, as his deft-handedness proved superior to most. Motivation to achieve had never been a problem for Boyd, who remembered the manner in which his father had encouraged him, but in 2374, at the onset of hostilities between the Federation and Dominion, he and his classmates were driven by a desire to help preserve the safety and freedom of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. This motivation reached an all-time high, when about a year later, the Breen carried out their sneak attack on Starfleet Headquarters and the Academy, killing thousands. For his part, Boyd had been fortunate enough to survive the attack uninjured, though he had been friendly with many of those who hadn’t been so.

Eventually, attrition rates during the height of the war demanded an influx of personnel from the Academy in the form of still-training Cadets, and though Boyd applied to be one of those selected for early commissioning, he was denied due in favor of others that had already put more time in at the Academy. As friends and comrades went to join the fight, Boyd was left behind to continue his training, the decision of his mother some years earlier to prevent his early admission into Starfleet Academy rearing its head and causing him to miss out on the rest of the war. When peace was finally won, Boyd was disheartened about not having stood beside his friends in the conflict, but he remained determined to finish his stay at the Academy and graduated with honors in 2377.

2377 - 2379: USS Gallant NCC-74209
While the Dominion War had ended in 2375, relief efforts were expected to continue well into the 2380s, especially for the Cardassian home world that had been utterly decimated by the vengeful and vindictive Dominion during the waning hours of the war. The ferrying to aide to Cardassia Prime became a constant for the Federation and assigned to protect the steady flow of commodities were a number of Defiant-class starships that Starfleet had ordered constructed during the height of the war, which technically no longer served their primary combative purpose. The USS Gallant, one of such Defiant-class ships built, ensured the shipping lanes were safe from potential predators in the Orion Syndicate, and other fringe elements hoping to capitalize on a moderately depleted Starfleet.

Aboard the Gallant, Boyd served as Assistant Chief of the CONN, and though the promise of battle loomed, his tour of duty was for the most part, unremarkable, though he did meet all expectations of him as an Ensign, earning a promotion to the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade in early 2379.

2379 - Present: USS Lammergeier NCC-61815
Not necessarily standing out among his peers, Boyd landed an assignment aboard the USS Lammergeier in 2379, once more as the Assistant Chief CONN Officer, a role he’d fulfilled well enough during his previous assignment. However, the role soon changed when at the twelfth hour, said Chief CONN Officer requested and was granted an emergency leave of absence in order for personal reasons. This left Boyd as the next senior-most member of CONN, and upon meeting with Captain Palmer, he was made the new Chief, a position he has, for the most part, thrived in.

Appearance
Boyd is of moderate height and build, sporting close-cropped black-hair and brown eyes; he is very much his father’s son, sharing many facial features in common, perhaps even more-so than any of his older brothers. He carries himself with an air of confidence in his abilities as a pilot, though it is clear that at times he is overwhelmed by the prospect of leading a department, given his relative inexperience in the matter. When not on duty, he appears to be, and is overtly friendly to crewmates.

Motivation
Boyd is driven by a boyhood dream to explore the stars, a desire which was nurtured by his father in spite of the wishes of his mother. He reminds himself daily of how his father went against the grain in doing so, ostracizing himself from Boyd’s mother and family in the process. A such, Boyd feels a great debt to his father, and wishes to prove the decision correct by flourishing as a Starfleet Officer. To a degree, this has at times led Boyd to take on more responsibility than he may necessarily be ready for, though he would be reluctant to admit it.



Episode 01

 * Day 01 | 0000 hrs. | Thread Title with Character 01, Character 02, Character 03