Shane Uriah Palmer

Summary
Shane Uriah Palmer is an American-born Starfleet Warrant Officer and the Chief of Engineering aboard the Saber-class USS Lammergeier NCC-61815, which is assigned to Task Force 11 as part of the Federation’s mission of exploration in the region of space known as the Shackleton Expanse.

He is the only son of Captain Jackson Palmer, the current Commanding Officer of the Lammergeier. It should be prefaced, that originally Shane had been slated for the role of Chief Engineer aboard the Nova-class USS Providence NCC-72700, but that this posting was altered at the last minute at the behest of an Admiral’s order, resulting in Shane having found himself in the somewhat unenviable position of directly serving under his father. Though a skilled, innovative, and deeply studied Engineer, Shane has frequently encountered resistance during his short and moderately unremarkable Starfleet career. Much of this however, is self-initiated as he has routinely exhibited a great deal of disregard for proper protocol and the chain of command. It is this notion of insubordination and an often-unenthusiastic regard for the greater mission of Starfleet and the Federation that has led to him being passed over for more prestigious and challenging assignments. A fact which Shane seems almost begrudgingly at peace with, much to the chagrin of his peers, and especially his father who recognizes the great promise he represents yet fails to fulfill.

The Lammergeier is to be Shane's first posting as a Chief Engineer, and in a way will serve as a trial of his abilities to both lead a department and prove himself capable of upholding the finer tenants of a member of Starfleet.

2353 - 2365: Childhood
Shane Uriah was born to Jackson and Julia Palmer on November 5, 2353 in the city of Oakland, CA on Earth. He is the first and only child of his parents, who met in 2352 while Jackson was planet side for an extended period of shore leave following a tour of duty with Starfleet. Julia had owned an operated one of the largest botanical gardens and greenhouses located in North America, where she worked to cultivate some of the rarest and most beautiful flora available; it was here, when Jackson came to select a rare breed of plant to accentuate his apartment in San Francisco, that he met and fell in love with Julia. Not long after came engagement, marriage, and later the couple welcomed the birth of their son, thus completing their little family. Julia however, refused to allow Jackson to forgo the rest of his Starfleet career as she was aware of how he had dreamt of someday Captaining his own starship. Similarly, Jackson refused to take his family with him to the stars, as he was very wary of the dangers represented, so it was decided then that Julia would stay in Oakland to raise their son, while Jackson would resume his career, returning home as often as he could.

For Shane, this meant he would grow up without the physical presence of his father for large portions of his formative years, and while for a short time the frequent subspace communications relayed between Jackson and his family would suffice, in the end it would be recognized as a big cause for his troubled adolescence to come.

2365 - 2371: Adolescence
While academically, Shane had excelled during his primary schooling, behaviorally there had been a number of troublesome patches that followed him as he began attending High School. It didn’t take long for him to fall in with the wrong crowd, and by his fifteenth-birthday he had become involved with something of a modern gang. Ditching, fighting, stealing, and graffiti became common place for the young delinquent, and it all came to a head in 2368 when Shane was arrested and charged with assaulting one of his classmates, who had been hospitalized due to the beating he’d received. Charged as a minor, Shane was sentenced to six-weeks in a juvenile disciplinary facility, where he was ordered to undergo behavioral therapy in order to help tame his considerable temper. Upon release, Shane’s mother had arranged for him to move to nearby Lone Pine, where he would live with his estranged grandfather, Joseph, and attend a technical school since he had been permanently barred from traditional High Schools throughout the state of California.

Under the stern disciplinary guidance of Joseph, Shane quickly learned obedience, respect, and tolerance. He also learned how his father had likewise exhibited trouble with temper at his age, and that his father and grandfather hadn’t spoken to each other since a little after Shane’s birth, since his grandfather hadn’t approved of Shane’s father’s decision to return to Starfleet, leaving his family behind in the process.

Each day, when coming home from school, Shane and Joseph would work together to restore an old Harley Davidson motorcycle that had been in the family for generations, and that had even been owned and ridden by his father but had since fallen into disrepair due to years of neglect. Together, Shane and Joseph bonded in a way that Shane and Jackson never had, no doubt fostering some feelings of resentment between father and son. Yet, Shane’s behavior drastically improved, his grades continued to be at the very top of his class, and he had discovered a love of Mechanical Engineering, which he later hoped to turn into a career with Starfleet. Despite the rift that had existed between Shane and his father, he had hoped that by following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather by joining Starfleet, their relationship would improve. Disappointingly, Shane’s application to Starfleet Academy was rejected due to his criminal past, which despite being on his juvenile record only, was still weighed against him by the office of admissions.

2371 - 2375: Starfleet Enlistment & Training
Frustrated, but undeterred by this rejection; and against the advisement of his father to take a year and apply again later, Shane instead defiantly signed-up with Starfleet as a member of their enlisted corps and shipped off to San Jose for his basic training. Twelve-weeks later, after completing the mandatory basic training course, the relationship between himself and his father reached an all-time low, as despite being on Earth at the time, Jackson had declined to attend the graduation ceremony. Deciding that he had done so out of spite for having refused to wait and apply to the Academy a second time, Shane angrily cut off all communications with his father, and pushed forward with his specialized training, choosing to focus on the principles of starship engineering. It would be two-years before Shane was faced with the decision whether or not to enter active-duty as an enlisted crewman, and thus be assigned to a starship in a supportive role, or continue his engineering education, and in the process broaden his immediate horizons within Starfleet by applying for the Warrant Officer program. Shane would choose to apply, and was indeed accepted into the Warrant Officer program, which operated out of Sacramento.

It was during his time there, that he experienced the horrors of the Dominion War as they spilled over into the streets of the Federation home world, when in addition to attacking Starfleet Academy in San Francisco, Breen forces also targeted a number of other Starfleet facilities across California, including the Warrant Officer school in Sacramento. Shane was fortunate to survive uninjured and unscathed, but a number of his friends and peers weren’t so fortunate.

2375 - 2376: USS Cushing NCC-55926
Following the attack on Starfleet by the Breen, Shane and a large number of personnel who were all due for graduation began requesting to serve on front-line ships out of a sense of righteous indignation. For his part, Shane had hoped to be assigned to one of the many Miranda-class starships which were hastily being brought out of mothball status, and back into active duty as Light Destroyers and Escorts. However, unlike most of his friends who had similarly made formal requests to be assigned to a front-line starship, Shane was instead posted aboard the Olympic-class USS Cushing NCC-55926. A hospital ship, Shane was kept far and away from battle throughout almost all of the remaining war to be fought, only experiencing the minor of combat instances during the massive final push of allied fleets onto Cardassia Prime, where ships like the Cushing were kept in the rear out of safety concerns. When the Dominion had finally surrendered, the Cushing took up a year-long position in orbit of the Cardassian home world, where it brought aid to the ravaged people there.

By 2376, the situation on Cardassia was considered to be well enough in hand that the Cushing could leave. Upon returning to Earth, the crew of the Cushing was commended for their service and were each awarded the Medal of Mercy. However, at the awards ceremony, Shane publicly refused to accept it, as he had considered it little more than a sham due to the relative peaceful mission undertaken by the Cushing. Seen as a slight and a disrespect to the Captain, Shane was confronted by the Executive Officer, which quickly turned into a violent altercation and the two needed to be separated by other members of the crew. Despite this blemish on his service jacket, as well as a number of notations filed by the Captain over his frequent disregard of proper protocol, Shane’s service aboard the Cushing was considered exemplary by his Department Chief, and he’d earned a promotion to Chief Warrant Officer Grade One, and a subsequent re-assignment to another posting.

2376 - 2379: USS Maverick NCC-63105
Following the completion of his first tour of duty with the Cushing, Shane had also earned his first promotion, and had been assigned a posting aboard the New Orleans-class, USS Maverick NCC-63105 as an Assistant Chief Engineer. Excited about the prospects of his new posting, Shane would unfortunately come to discover that he might have been better off remaining aboard the Cushing for another tour, as his new Department Chief was a stubborn Vulcan, who was incredibly inclined to follow procedure and protocol, and who had little patience for Shane’s methods. The two of them clashed routinely, and were it not for his skills and talents, Shane may well have found himself removed from his posting, but he had proven himself a valuable asset time and again. Still, the posting was moderately mundane, as the Maverick spent a vast majority of the next three years traveling back and forth along the Romulan neutral zone on mostly uneventful patrol duty. There were occasional instances when the starship would need to speed off on an intercept course to investigate sensor ghosts reminiscent of Romulan ships attempting to cross the border, but they were almost always just that, ghosts.

However, in 2378 the Maverick responded to a series of Romulan distress calls which originated from the Federation side of the neutral zone. Upon arrival, the Maverick discovered a debris field that had once been a moderately sized Romulan fleet. For days, the Maverick plucked up survivors from the escape pods, and gradually uncovered what had happened to the ships they had ejected from. A Chodak Dreadnought had been pursued by the Romulan fleet across the neutral zone, where they were obliterated with ease. The re-emergence of the Chodak was disconcerting to Starfleet, and a Task Force was drawn together with the expressed purpose of investigating the level of threat they represented to the Federation. Over the course of the following six-months, the Maverick and other Starfleet ships tracked down every remnant signal they could find, and though the Chodak Dreadnought had never reappeared, many dozens of probes and other Chodak artifacts were recovered, affording Shane and the rest of the Maverick Engineering staff the chance to examine and catalogue it.

When the mystery of the disappearing Chodak Dreadnought was declared unsolvable at the end of the year, the Maverick was recalled from the neutral zone just prior to being cycled back to Earth for a major refit and overhaul.

2379: Career Evaluation by the SCE
Upon arrival at Starbase 12, Shane was brought in for a career evaluation by representatives of Starfleet Corps of Engineers, where his time spent aboard the Maverick was thoroughly reviewed. At first, there had been serious consideration for Shane to simply retain his rank prior to being assigned to his next posting, which would have been a sideways move and represented a stalling of his career advancement. But upon inspection, and in spite of continued reports outlining his penchant for the disregarding of protocol and procedure, his actual service record as a skilled, innovative, and talented engineer was impeccable enough to merit a promotion. Shane was however informed that Chief Warrant Officer Grade Two would likely be the maximum rank he would realistically achieve if he didn’t soon learn to adopt the finer tenants of being a Starfleet Officer. Begrudgingly accepting the judgement of the evaluation panel, Shane was also issued something of a challenge by them, in which they dared him to rise up to their high expectations. He was then tentatively assigned to take up the role of Chief Engineer aboard the Nova-class USS Providence NCC-72700, as the starship was set to join Task Force 11 in its extended mission to explore and chart the unknown frontiers of the Shackleton Expanse.

2379 - Present: USS Lammergeier NCC-61815
Having been ferried from Starbase 12 to Starbase 179 aboard a Federation transport ship, Shane had thoroughly studied the mission details of Task Force 11, as well as the Engineering design notes of a Nova-class starship, hoping to all but know it like the back of his hand upon arrival. He would of course be informed that his posting aboard the Providence had been altered at the last minute by an order filed by Admiral Silva. The order was peculiar, as it outlined a one-for-one transfer of Chief Engineers between the Lammergeier and the Providence, and which resulted in Shane coming to serve directly underneath of his father, who was the Commanding Officer of the Lammergeier. It can go without saying, that the stress of father and son being reunited under such circumstances will prove difficult for the two of them, especially for Shane who had spend weeks readying himself to act as the Chief Engineer aboard an entirely different class of starship. He would need to learn the inherent differences between Nova and Saber-classes on the fly, prove himself a capable officer to the SCE board, and manage the tenuous relationship which existed between him and his father.

Appearance
Shane is a man of moderate height, standing at 6’1, who works diligently to maintain his fit physique as it only serves to further improve his capabilities as an Engineer. He is a markedly handsome man and has never had much trouble eliciting the favor of others due to his general outward appearance. He shares a number of facial features and characteristics of his father, including blue-hued eyes and a general overall preference for facial hair of some kind. He has also at times worn his blond hair at a longer than standard regulation length, but had it cut back prior to accepting his posting aboard the Lammergeier out of a desire to prove he can abide protocol and procedure.

Motivation
Shane has had consistent struggles with adhering to authority throughout his life, and especially so during his Starfleet career. It has been a constant issue of concern for previous Commanding Officers and Departmental superiors, who have had to weigh the benefits of his skill as an Engineer against those troubles he has caused. Prior to coming to the Lammergeier, Shane had been challenged by a SCE review board to be a better officer, otherwise his career would stall out. It is his hope, as he has a penchant for defying expectations, that he can indeed learn to be a more by-the-book member of Starfleet and earn the praise of his peers and superiors. There however, is a worry that his relative lack of enthusiasm for the grander mission of Starfleet and the Federation; that being driven by indignation alone, isn’t enough to elicit the kind of improvement that is expected and requested of him, and that as a result he will eventually languish in fare more mediocre posts until washing out of Starfleet entirely. In truth, even Shane isn’t entirely certain what he wants out of his Starfleet career, as he has grown somewhat complacent, and despondent with mostly mundane missions and assignments. Either Shane will rise to the occasion with the Lammergeier, or he will find himself approaching the end of a mostly unremarkable career.

Episode 01

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