Jackson Theodore Palmer

Summary
Jackson Theodore Palmer is a Starfleet Captain born on Luna, in the sol system. And when the company you keep, accurately describes the person you are, then Jack could most aptly be described through the eyes of his loving wife, Julia. The sweetheart of his youth, that stayed by his side, time of his life. Adored him, venerated him, cared for him. The woman that was happiest in her own life when she knew the love of hers could find his blaze of glory among the unexplored darkness of space. The woman who kept up his house, his family, his affairs, for years on end while he was among the stars, chasing his dream of immortality to his name. A mirage that has since faded into the cold reality of mortality.

But then of course, also through the eyes of his only son, Shane, who would describe his father as no more than a distant figure, that occasionally came around and demanded a sense of normality … probably. A guidance figure he’d only seen incrementally throughout these formative years of his life. Age 2, age 5, age 9, age 11, age 15 … the spotty relationship dragged on like a stuttering engine. And whereas the love between husband and wife was old, solidified, to endure such hardship. The new, fresh bond between father and son, never really managed to develop fully, before it was torn down again across the vast vacuum of space.

Through the conflicts of the Galaxy, predominantly at the Cardassian border, the man had been relentlessly chasing a dream half his life, that now, on his last mission, was nothing more than a faint memento of a potential he could only see in his son now. Which both created a sense of resentment and envy.

History
Growing up in New Berlin on Earth’s moon Luna, Jackson had not seen a blue sky and green pastures for nearly 15 years. Not unless looking up through the domes and portholes of the vast sprawls on the natural satellite. A day stretching into twenty-nine and a half, between each sunrise. Earth always watching over him, ominously, tauntingly, due to the moon’s tidal lock. Nothing but a figment of dreams, like the ball of cheese, in a reverse scenario, looking from the planet up, in childlike naivety. It was a different life from one in a place with natural atmosphere, gravity and weather. But one that innately accustomed him for life in space, among starships and stations, with their artificial light, air and gravity. Where he would always feel most comfortable, time of his life.

A visit to the Luna Smithsonian, that had many exhibits on loan from Earth, ignited a love for classic airplanes and 20th/21st century flying machines, as spaceflight and orbital transports were such a common sight on the moon. Despite being technologically inferior, he found the simplicity with which humans once traveled peculiar, from a time where machines lacked the untouchable ghosts within that almost magically made them seem to work. Everything was so far more tactile and mechanical. Abiding to the laws of physics alone, rather than elevating oneself above them, or bend them, to suit your needs.

At age 14, however, his parents decided to send their son to live with his grandparents in San José, as the political stability on the moon was going through a phase of unrest. Here he attended Jefferson High School, while adjusting to the alien landscape of Earth. It was also where, upon a visit to an airshow of classic World War II airplanes, that he was truly enamored with the daredevil cliché of piloting. Originally planning to become a pilot for the earth’s defense forces, Jackson ultimately joined Starfleet Academy, and pursued a commission in CONN. As he was not accepted into the United Earth Air Force Academy due to the limited need for pilots. In San Francisco, the man was swiftly put on a training craft and eventually joined Nova Squad, the most elite group of pilots at the Academy. All through his teachings he was rigorously groomed to be an excellent pilot eventually, a challenge he wholly surpassed. During this time, he was known to habitually deactivate many non-essential support systems to rely on general flight mechanics, rather than technological magic. Despite that, he generally came out on top in most competitions, fostering a better understanding of aviation physics. Something that he would be able to translate into spaceflight later on as well. Creating the ‘Palmer Maneuver’, that borrowed from old earth fighter tactics, where one would use the drag and mass of a plane to rapidly fall back behind a pursuing target.

Graduating in 2338 a more than prestigious position waited for the aspiring Ensign.

2338 - 2341
Posted on the pride of the fleet, the Enterprise-C, among the best and brightest Starfleet had to offer, Jackson almost immediately became infected with the explorer bug. He dissolved in the sentiment of going where no man had gone before, exploring the uncharted darkness of space only to find life and wonder everywhere in between. Every little spec of light in the fabric of nothing held another secret, another surprise. And he was one of the people steering the ship towards and around these marvelous destinations. As a young man, in the prime of his years, he enjoyed the journey to the fullest. The lower decks shenanigans and the stories of the senior officers of a time long past. It was a wonderful time, a different time, really, where the Federation was at the zenith of an era of prosperity and peace. Quite literally the 1960s of the 24th century.

2341 - 2346
After such a prestigious posting, Jackson had his fair pick of opportunities and thus became the Assistant Chief CONN Officer on the USS Intrepid at the tender age of twenty-four. The ship would serve as consular vessel for the first few years of him being posted there. Ferrying high level diplomatic personnel to designated negotiation sites in the ongoing dispute between the Federation and Klingon Empire. As the Enterprise-C too was stationed in the area last, it was not that big of a change for the young man. Though serving on an Excelsior vessel with diplomatic credentials lent an added sense of grandeur.

In 2344 then, the USS Enterprise-C was destroyed protecting a Klingon outpost on Narendra III, under attack by four Romulan warbirds. While being a shock to the man, it also turned out to be what tipped the tide in the negotiations with the Klingons, and a treaty was signed the same year in acknowledgment of the crew’s honor.

Ironically, the Intrepid was then involved in an almost similar encounter two years later, when in 2346 the Khitomer outpost was attacked by the Romulans. The first to respond, the Intrepid could however not find any Romulan ships at the colony. None the less, their bravery was lauded by both the Klingons and Starfleet. Especially in the aftermath of what had happened to the Enterprise under such similar circumstances.

The ship later returned to Starbase 24 with only two survivors, Worf and Kahlest. Jackson would transfer here too, after getting promoted to full Lieutenant.

2346 - 2350
Aboard the USS Burnham, Jackson would take over as the department head in his position of Chief CONN Officer. Thus joining senior staff. The ship was tasked to chart the unexplored Hromi Cluster and thus expert pilots were needed. On its four-year mission, the Burnham and its crew would encounter many difficult situations among the astrophysical anomalies in the cluster. Being the only ship in the area, smack in the middle of an ongoing dispute between the Klingons, Romulans and the Federation, they had to be on high alert at all times, going through an emotional rollercoaster virtually every day. Implementing daily evasive drills for his department, Jackson kept the navigational team always prepared and garnered the gratitude of his commanding officer for initiative and tactics.

After the mission concluded in 2350, vast areas of the cluster had been charted but many Class-M planets still remained unexplored. Subsequent expeditions with more ships would further drive forward the knowledge over the area. But it was originally the Burnham who set first foot in this area of space.

2350 - 2355
Jackson next joined the crew of the Exeter and also the upper echelons of its command structure, becoming not only its Chief CONN Officer but also 2nd Executive Officer. A position that, so he would learn, involved more of his leadership capabilities than his actual talents as a pilot. He however always made a point in teaching everything he knew to his more practically involved subordinates.

The USS Exeter was first drafted to keep an eye on border disputes and frictions in the Borderlands, caused by the emergence of the Son’a in the area. An unknown race of nomadic existence, known to raid worlds for their resources and enslave its inhabitants. Tasked to observe, the Exeter found proof of the recent enslavement of the Tarlac and the Ellora, as well as the occupation of several uninhabited planets. That, paired with the realization of Son’a technology generally being superior to that of Starfleet, prompted a heightened security discussion with the Federation.

It was ultimately decided to place a series of embargos and restrictions on the Son’a and their territory would be intensely watched. The Exeter being the first ship to be assigned to routine surveillance duty.

2355 - 2359
Shortly after being promoted to full Commander and 1st officer, the Exeter became entangled in an attempt by the Son’a to invade Alzirr system. A strategic position at the fringes of the Briar Patch, formerly Federation territory. Initially holding position against the approaching forces, even to the point of established target locks, the Exeter was subsequently recalled by Starfleet command under authority of the Diplomatic Corps, and Alzirr given up to the Son’a due to little strategic value for the Federation.

The system would later become the staging ground for a joint operation to utilize Ba’ku’s unusual metaphasic radiation.

After initially rejecting Starfleet’s orders to pull back, the Captain of the Exeter was eventually court-martialed, and Command temporarily fell to Jackson for the time being until in 2359 a new Commanding officer transferred to Deep Space K-7 where they would rendezvous. It was also here that Jackson would leave the Exeter and transport back to earth to speak at his Captain’s hearing.

2359 - 10/2379
After being lauded for his calm demeanor and soothing influence, effectively and solitarily responsible for de-escalating the standoff at Alzirr, Jackson was prompoted to the rank of Captain and given commission of the newly built USS Lammergeier. The 3rd Federation starship to bear the name.

Initially assigned to patrol and intercept duty along the Federation side of the Cardassian border. Operating from out of Starbase 211, and under the Flag of Admiral William Winters, the starship saw little more than the occasional brushfire incident when dealing with overzealous Cardassian Dals who were looking to make a name for themselves by claiming a kill of a Federation starship.

However, in 2362 the war took a bloody turn when agents of the Obsidian Order forwarded bad intelligence onto forces in the vicinity of the Federation colony on Setlik III, prompting the eventually massacre at the outpost. After being responded to first by the USS Rutledge, it was the Lammergeier along with several other Starfleet vessels which arrived to drive off the remaining Cardassians forces.

Later on the Lammergeier was one of a few Federation starships assigned to fend of local renegades, though it performed with mixed results as a surprising number Maquis personnel and ships managed to elude capture. Disappointed by a general lack of progress on their part, the Lammergeier and her Captain were re-assigned in early 2372 by the man most directly in charge of subduing the Maquis, Vice Admiral William Winters.

In June of 2373, when the little Saber-class ship charged in through the Bajoran wormhole in response to an emergency distress call which had originated from an unarmed science vessel under attack by a trio of Jem’Hadar ships. In the single brightest moment of glory during the Lammergeier’s service, the lone ship not only managed to miraculously fend off the three attacking ships, but it also saved the crew of the damaged science vessel and then returned through the Bajoran wormhole relatively unscathed. For this, the ship and her Captain were lauded triumphantly, and Lammergeier was given an Admiral’s Commendation.

Subsequently the ship joined the greater Ninth Fleet, where the Lammergeier remained for the rest of the ensuing War. The Lammergeier was there when Allied forces retook Deep Space Nine during Operation ‘Return’. It was there for the liberation of Betazed in 2375; helped rescue survivors following the grave losses sustained during the Dominion retaking of the Chin’toka system; and even fought during the final push for Cardassia Prime where the Dominion War ultimately came to an end.

Reporting under the flag of Vice Admiral Alice Liu, the Lammergeier, as part of Task Force 7, would spend six-months working to contain the hostile situation which unfolded inside of the Maelstrom. They were aided by a small Klingon detachment, and later even representatives of the Romulan Star Empire. Eventually it was discovered that a rogue faction of the Cardassian Union had brokered a deal with an enigmatic race known as the Kessok, who had been inhabitants of the Maelstrom. Following the end of this confined outbreak of hostilities, the rogue Cardassian faction was withdrawn from the Maelstrom, and any claims to the territory were seceded to the Federation.

The Lammergeier returned to Earth, and Utopia Planitia for the first time since it’s commissioning some twenty-years earlier. In its moderately short service time, it had seen more combat and traversed more space than ships twice its age, and as a result many of its systems were worn out and beyond due for replacement. Shored up for a period of three-months, the overhaul began in March of 2379 and took an additional three-months of labor to bring the ship up to modern specifications.

Finally cleared for re-launch, many of the crew of the Lammergeier had been re-assigned to other posts, though a small number of the previous manifest had remained, including Captain Palmer, who had refused to accept another command. Setting out upon a one-month shakedown cruise with a skeleton crew, the Lammergeier made for Starbase 157 in the Narendra sector. Upon arriving at Starbase 157, the Lammergeier would receive its full and final crew compliment before joining the newly reformed Task Force 11, under command of Admiral Silva, and heading off to explore the Uncharted Frontier that is the Shackelton Expanse.

Appearance
Once of considerable height, gravity and age have somewhat diminished Jackson’s appearance. Now standing at 6’1” his width has somewhat increased, naturally. Still a rather hulking figure, his rugged looks and carved face are far more imposing than his gentle and calm demeanor.

Carrying himself with a relaxed air he is often seen with his sleeves slightly rolled up or the zipper of his uniform vest more undone than regulatory. Adding to the less strict image are his unruly beard and longer hair. Symbolic of a man so settled in his position, he does not care about adhering to every little detail of Starfleet mandate anymore.

Motivation
Unlike most ships assigned to Task Force 11, the Lammergeier – and Jackson specifically – were assigned by Starfleet Command, and not Admiral Silva. This was an effort to try and bring a stabilizing element to the mission. Silva, known for his totalitarian and aggressive command style, is mainly supported by a conservative wing of Starfleet admiralty vying for more offensive influence. The more liberal echelons, in support of the most seasoned Captain in the entire task force, thought it do be wise to use their influence and assign him the task.

Jackson himself, aware of the political implications, sought it to be the last challenge of his career, slated to retire after the Shackleton Expanse Force mission is set to come to a conclusion in 2381. He is looking forward to giving the younger Admiral a run for his money and to let his calming demeanor stabilize potentially harmful situations. Especially since first contacts in the Expanse are highly likely.

Episode 01

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